top of page
Victor C. Bolles

Patriotic Diversity


In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey on the topic of the kneeling protests by NFL players, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said that he had relationships with guys of “every color, race, belief” and that everyone needed to respect each other and to have empathy for each other. But he also emphasized that this is important on a diverse team “with guys trying to go in the same direction.”


As I have noted in the past, diversity works when there is a unity of purpose. On the New England Patriots that purpose is to win as many football games as possible and to go to the Super Bowl. But diversity for the New England Patriots does not mean quotas. Only the best players are recruited and hired for each position. Candidates are not sought out based on their race or ethnicity but on their proven football skills and ability.


Actually, the New England Patriots are not all that diverse. The 2017 roster of players was made up of 30 whites, 58 blacks and 1 Hispanic. I am actually guessing these ethnicities because the ethnicities are not listed on the roster because racial identity is irrelevant (except to progressives). A New England Patriots team that reflected American racial diversity would probably not be a very good team. There are no Asians on the team that I could see although Patrick Chung, a black Jamaican, has a Chinese sounding name and may be of mixed race (if you want to see a sport with a lot of Asians watch the LPGA tour).


But the point I want to make is not about diversity but about unity of purpose. All the diverse players on the New England Patriots team (as well as the other diverse players on other NFL teams) are unified in the goal of winning football games. Restricting the universe of potential teammates to one particular race would not help achieve that goal any more than requiring the team to hire someone because of their race when there were more skilled or experienced players available. The New England Patriots are the ultimate meritocracy (as far as football goes).