OT: Deadspin tool that shows we talk differently about football players based on race.

So Deadspin went through and indexed pre-draft scouting reports from three different sources at NFL.com, ESPN.com and CBS.com and dropped every word into a database based on the race of the player being scouted. The results are very interesting, and you can find them here:

 

http://deadspin.com/which-words-are-used-to-describe-white-and-black-nf…

 

Some interesting results. I'm sharing these because I think they're interesting and not because I'm trying to make some grand point. If there was a way to spin this data to say that I think "Draft Experts" are stupid and that I think it's preposterous that their job even exists, I would. Sadly, I haven't seen that chance yet. 

 

Gritty is a white word. It shows up about 7 times more often for white players than black players. This surprises precisely zero people anywhere.

Natural is a black word: It shows up 67% more often describing black players than white players.

White is, ironically, a black word: it shows up very slightly more often to describe black players.

Hard is a word that comes in dead even between white and black players, though "worker" is a white word, showing up slightly more often for white players than black players.

Zero white players are described with the word "gifted". 13 black players are. 

"Arm" is a white word, with a 300% higher incidence count for white players over black players (despite black players getting more total mentions of the word). 

"Speed" shows up 4 times as often for black players though the actual usage rate is only a 34% increase. Quick shows a similar usage disparity.

Variations of the word talent are used to describe white players about 1.5 times more often than black players.

The word "dumb" is used just a single time. Stupid is not used at all.

"Winner" is used to describe white players about twice as often as black players.

There are 3 uses of "lazy" to describe a black player ans 1 usage to describe a white player (meaning their usage rate is fairly even).

The word "however" is used in descriptions of black players roughly twice as often as white players.

There are no references to the word "donkey", suggesting that no one is stealing Taylor Lewan scouting reports from MgoBlog.