Shannon Sharpe Immediately Makes Jalen Hurts' NFL-Record Contract About Race: 'Some Owners Didn't Want A Black' QB

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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts inked a five-year, $255 million contract giving him the highest average annual salary of any player in NFL history and it took Shannon Sharpe less than one day to make the situation about race.

Some individuals in the media believe every action - whether it be in sports, politics, or the way someone walks down the sidewalk - has a racist connotation to it.

READ: LAMAR JACKSON IS A VICTIM OF RACIALIZED MEDIA: BOBBY BURACK

Sharpe appears to subscribe to that mindset, but then again you can't totally blame him or others for doing so given the race-based messages being written and talked about from most legacy media 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

With common sense and original thoughts becoming rarer and rarer, some people just live in the moment of whatever they see or hear, no matter what that message may be.

Shannon Sharpe felt the need to bring up the NFL's racist past while discussing Jalen Hurts. (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)

Hurts signed the largest salaried contract in the history of the National Football League, and Sharpe's initial reaction to the news was to remind people that the league used to be incredibly racist, but now with this contract news, it's not that racist anymore.

“We see the progress, when given an opportunity, what the black quarterback can do,” Sharpe said on Tuesday’s edition of FS1's 'Undisputed.' “We know what was said: ‘Oh man, he can’t think. They can’t process information. He can’t think on his feet fast enough.’ Sometimes, that’s what it was. Sometimes, Skip (Bayless), some owners didn’t want a black to be the face of their organization.

“Whatever the case may be, to see the progression that has transpired with the black quarterback in the NFL is nothing short of a miracle.”

Can't We Just Appreciate The Present?

Nothing Sharpe said was inaccurate. There is no arguing against the fact that the NFL was more racist in 1920 when the league was founded and in the subsequent decades to follow. The league has come a very long way over the course of its 100-year history.

But while Sharpe's sentiment was factual, that doesn't mean it was warranted.

At the end of the day, this is just the latest example of the media drumming up a race-focused discussion instead of simply applauding Hurts' accomplishment that has nothing at all to do with the color of his skin and everything to do with how he performs as a football player and a leader for the Eagles.

We're not living in 1920, or 1957, or 1973, or any other year, we're living in 2023 and the only ones bringing up a racist past are the ones who depend on stirring the pot and garnering as many eyeballs as possible.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.