P. Kooistra et al., THE UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR EQUAL ABILITY HYPOTHESIS - RACISM IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, Sociology of sport journal, 10(3), 1993, pp. 241-255
This paper examines race equality within the labor market of professio
nal football, specifically addressing the issue of whether NFL team ma
nagement discriminates against marginal nonwhite players. To examine t
his, we compared the racial proportions of ''protected'' players to pr
oportions of players designated as ''Plan B'' free agents. We consider
ed Plan B players as ''marginals'' from management's viewpoint. Our hy
pothesis that these athletes would be disproportionately white was con
firmed. Reasons for the statistically significant differences in the r
acial proportions are discussed.