The 2023 Super Bowl was meant to celebrate football, two amazing Black QBs and Rihanna and, for most of the night, that’s what happened.
But during ESPN’s postgame show, veteran sportscaster Chris Berman made some appalling comments that raised the eyebrows of everyone who watched him recap the already classic Super Bowl matchup.
Like many sportscasters, Berman acknowledged the history that was made at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., with two Black quarterbacks battling it out for the first time in NFL history. But this guy decided to take the conversation to a place where no one expected it to go.
Just take a listen to what he said and be prepared to be shocked:
Yeah, that’s right, after pointing out the history that was made, Berman said with a straight-ass face, “Also, of course, two African American quarterbacks starting against each other in the Super Bowl for the first time. Fittingly, February 12th is Abe Lincoln’s birthday.”
Talk about peak white BS. In what world should Black people thank Abraham Lincoln for being partly responsible for two Black QBs playing in the Super Bowl, which is essentially what Berman stupidly implied.
Hey white people, contrary to popular belief, Lincoln did not free enslaved Africans because he wasn’t a racist, nor was it because he believed it was or did a heinous inhumane act. Lincoln did it because he needed more manpower to beat the Confederacy. That’s it. Lincoln did not care about Black people, so to draw a correlation between said him and two Black QBs facing off in the biggest football game of the year is beyond idiotic. Berman said his name like he was Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. He wasn’t.
Social media certainly took him to task for the gaffe, too. So next time Berman thinks of making some meaningful statement about Black people, it’s probably best he just keeps his big mouth shut.