(ThyBlackMan.com) Football fans younger than the age of 50 most likely never saw John Wooten perform on the field. A guard who fought many tough battles against the best defensive linemen of his day, Wooten was a member of the 1964 NFL Championship Cleveland Browns team, which featured the great Jim Brown.
While it has been nearly a half-century since Wooten played in the National Football League, he is relevant today because of another battle he is waging. As chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an organization that promotes diversity and equal opportunity in pro football, Wooten is
leading a charge to abolish the use of the N-word in the NFL. Wooten has been quoted as saying: “We want this word to be policed from the parking lot to the equipment room to the locker room. Secretaries, PR people, whoever, we want it eliminated completely and want it policed everywhere.” Wooten believes a 15-yard penalty anytime the N-word is used during a game would curtail its use on the field.
To fully understand John Wooten’s position requires knowledge of history. Men like Wooten and Brown, and Fritz Pollard before them, 
played professional football during an era when it was understood that a black man had to be twice as good as his competition to even get on the field. For these men, the N-word was no term of endearment but instead it was a word used to degrade and dehumanize. The NFL and its many African American stars of today are able to thrive because men like Wooten did not let the N-word derail their dreams.
I must disclose that I am not quite old enough to remember John Wooten as a football player. However, I am old enough to remember a time when elders, not rappers and sports stars, were the people most respected in the African American community. Those days were not without struggles, but the title of a popular TV show from that period reminded us we often had more “Good Times” than bad.
Therefore, I humbly say that Mr. Wooten deserves to be treated with the full dignity that was once given to our elders. He deserves this treatment because of his contributions and continued commitment to African American progress. Indeed, his request that the N-word not be used in America’s most popular sport should be heard and respected.
Staff Writer; Scott Talley
This talented journalist is owner of a public relations firm; Scott Talley & Associates, Inc….
