NFL Power Rankings: Who Are The Best Race-Baiters In The League?
What did Bill Belichick used to say when the Patriots weren't the laughingstock of the league? The NFL season doesn't begin until after Thanksgiving.
Something like that, I think. Bill was right then and he's right now. The NFL season is about to turn the page to December, which means it's about to get real. The Josh Dobbs story was cute for a few weeks in November, but now he might get benched.
That's what happens this time of year -- the pretenders inevitably show themselves and the actual contenders become clearer by the week.
Now, it's also sort of like the sports media world right now. You have the race-baiters out there who show their true, disgusting, clown colors every single day, and the outlets like OutKick who don't pin an 8-year-old kid as a racist for rooting for his favorite NFL team.
Like the Mike Freemans and Jemele Hills and Carron Phillips' of the world like to see, it's all pretty black and white right now along the sports media landscape. It's the NFL after Thanksgiving -- everyone's true colors are shown.
Don't you dare tell me I'm not drawing some damn parallels today! This is Colin Cowherd level of analogy-forming right now.
OK, enough of the build-up. You all see where this is going, right?
It's NFL Week 13 Power Rankings: The 'Who Is The Best (Worst) Race-Baiter' edition!
Tier 1: The Mark Jones tier
I mean, nobody does it better than ESPN's Mark Jones, who puts on an absolute masterclass in race-baiting each and every week it seems.
This dude is INSUFFERABLE to listen to on Saturdays, especially if he was calling a Colorado game this year. It was so sad and so funny at the same time. He simply could not get over the fact the Deion Sanders was the Buffs coach.
Anyway, this guy has a laundry list of race-baiting shenanigans. It's so long I can't even get into half of them today. Some of my personal favorites include calling Abraham Lincoln a racist, calling Batman a racist and lying about police murdering a very-alive Jacob Blake. Legend of the game, folks. Take notes.
PS: LOVE the above retweet from Mark. One of many deranged retweets and likes from him on a daily basis. It's not only stupid, but also wrong. Double-whammy!
No real big changes in this tier after everyone except Detroit held court. The Lions, as you can see, were punished appropriately. Do we trust them in the playoffs? I don't. That defense is pretty garbage outside of Aidan Hutchinson.
Philly hosts San Fran this weekend. Game of the year in the NFL? We'll see. It's in Philadelphia so you can bet the penalty discrepancy will be hilarious.
Tier 2: The Jemele Hill tier
I feel like Jemele Hill walked at ESPN so Mark Jones could run. What a 1-2 punch!
Now, I know what you're all thinking -- how can Jemele Hill be this high up if she doesn't exist anymore? And I get it. But trust me, she still exists, you just don't ever hear from her because she's been hired and fired from so many places your head would spin.
Remember that one time her and Michael Smith were leading the 6 p.m. SportsCenter for a few years and ratings tanked so bad they had to cut bait? Hilarious.
Anyway, in case you think Jemele's lost her race-baiting fastball, in the last five months alone she's added Asian-Americans to her list of white supremacists, called Nikki Haley racist for not wanting Kamala Harris to be the president of the US of A (if you think it's bad now, just wait) and said the coverage of Deion Sanders early on came with "coded" language.
Whew. Busy few months!
Cowboys and Dolphins both took care of awful teams, as they tend to do. Can't wait for Christmas Eve. The Jags scored a massive win over Houston but I'm still not sold.
Russell Wilson > Josh Allen. Weird as it sounds, it's probably true at this point. At least for now.
RIP CNN+: March 2022-April 2022.
Tier 3: The Mike Freeman tier
I'm pretty sure Mikey has everyone and their mother at OutKick blocked on Twitter, which is the ultimate sign of respect IMO. Huge honor.
Mike, for those who don't know, is the Race & Inequality Editor over at USA Today. A miserable, miserable publication that used to be awesome but is now just a pile of race-baiting/Trump hating garbage. Believe me, I've been behind enemy lines over there. It's a cesspool.
Anyway, let's do a quick scan of thew last few Mike Freeman stories just for S&Gs:
Derek Carr's screaming would be viewed differently if he were Black.
Blown out? Doesn't matter. Colorado is still Black America's team.
Northwestern football scandal was also about hardcore racism.
No, it's not time to forgive Oakland A's broadcaster for use of racial slur. Not yet.
A lot of good ones there, but Black Derek Carr will always be my favorite. What a twist!
I'll be honest with you, I think most, if not all, of these teams sort of suck. The Steelers are about to be someone's unofficial first round bye in the AFC wild card round next month. I'm praying it's Miami.
The Elves are back to being the Elves.
The Geno Smith train is officially derailed.
The Bengals are toast without Joe.
I can't believe the Colts may make the playoffs. What a time to be alive.
Tier 4: The Bomani Jones tier
*truly awful teams that play in maybe the worst division of the Super Bowl era so one will host a playoff game.
Another legend from ESPN (what a roster!), Bomani Jones is the classic "BLAME THE WHITES" race-baiter. He gets it. Simple, but effective.
My personal favorite Bomani moment? The one time he told Da Le Batard (no, he won't make our list today. He's far more complex than just simple race-baiting. He's a well-rounded idiot) that white people were the problem with the NFL.
“I just don’t know why people try to make this far more complex than it is,” Jones told Le Batard in Feb. 2022. “What’s the problem? White people.”
The response, which Bomani beautifully flushes further out below, was in response to a question regarding Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL.
“Who are the ones that are making these decisions? White people. Who are the ones that won’t change their decision making? White people. Who are the ones that only do anything in a different way when it comes these matters at the threat of litigation? White people,” said Jones.
WHITE PEOPLE!!!!
All the above teams stink. I wouldn't watch them at gunpoint. Next.
PS: Remember when Bomani's HBO show Game Theory got cancelled after two seasons and Deadspin said it was because he was too smart? What world are we living in?
Tier 5: The RGIII tier
ANOTHER ESPN TALENT! What a damn room over there in Bristol.
Robert Griffin III is an up-and-comer in the race-baiting world, which is why he's down so low. I feel like he still needs a few more years of working with Mark Jones to really hone his craft. After that, the sky is the limit, baby!
Some of my favorite RGIII moments include the above Lovie Smith one and the time he said the Jets wouldn't sign him OR Colin Kaepernick not because both are terrible at football, but because they're both "distractions."
Hilarious.
Like RGIII, the Packers, Vikings and Rams all have a chance to make the postseason, but they still have a ways to go and need some help.
They could get there, but it'll take some time, patience and a little luck.
We're all rooting for them, though!
Tier 6: The Carron J. Phillips tier
Honestly, this dummy would be a lot higher if Deadspin was still a thing, but it's such a garbage site now that he just doesn't have the firepower the others have.
But when it comes to really leaning into being just the worst human ever, Carron here nails it. He may not having the backing of an ESPN to help promote his truly awful takes, but he can certainly hold his own in the race-baiting community.
I'm sure Mark and Jemele and Bomani and Mike are LOVING Carron's latest attempt to smear a young child rooting for the Chiefs, and my guess is they're all doing whatever they can to lend a hand.
And how about his response to being called out for blatantly lying and just omitting the fact that the kid had the other side of his face painted red? I mean, this is an all-timer from Carron:
The issue here, though, is that Carron deleted the tweet. Can't do that and still be ranked up there with the Mark Jones' and Jemele Hills of the world. That's what separates the pretenders from the contenders, to bring it full circle.
Carron will learn in time. I don't doubt it for a second. Keep grinding!
It's amazing how inept the Chargers are with such a talented NFL roster. They never cease to amaze me.
The Bears are about a month away from being forced to have a real uncomfortable conversation about Justin Fields.
The fact that Brian Daboll has the Tommy DeVito-led Giants on a two-game winning streak should probably be talked about more.
Poor Bryce Young.
Not poor Mac Jones. He stinks. Patriots stink. Bill Belichick stinks. Poverty franchise.
Have a suggestion for next week’s NFL Power Rankings tiers? Email me at zach.dean@outkick.com.