Politics

NFL Draft Week: How Does it Impact Black Chicago?

Published

11 years ago

May 5, 2015

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans cheer after the Buccaneers selects Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston as the first pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft, Thursday, April 30, 2015, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

by Mary L. Datcher
Special to the NNPA from the Chicago Defender

The prospect of a child developing his or her talent and potential is the dream of most parents. It is the glue that can hold not only a household together, but also a community. In African-American history, the dreams of many young Black youth center on athletics and entertainment. The goals of achieving fame in athletics or entertainment often overshadows dreams about other important professions such as becoming a teacher, an attorney, a physician, an engineer or a sports agent. Many of these professions lay the foundation for building a solid base.

The estimated revenue of the NFL Players’ Association is $327 million; however, in real numbers, overall among the 32 league teams, the combined total is an estimated $10 billion dollars. Players’ salaries can range from the minimum of $400,000 to over $22 million driving the league to produce much more revenue than the other professional athletic associations. Often, young men become overnight millionaires, catapulting their careers and lifestyles in a world that is inaccessible to their peers.

This week, Chicago will host for the NFL Draft week festivities. The city hasn’t had this honor since the 1964 draft was held here. Back in the day, the draft was a simple 24-hour process between rival team owners selecting collegiate stars for their team rosters. Now, it has become a major week-long production that rivals the same media production as Super Bowl but without the quirky, high priced commercials and half-time fanfare. How does the local economy benefit outside of the hospitality industry centralized in the immediate downtown and Michigan Avenue shopping district? The better question is how does the business economy benefit in the same communities that some of the Black athletes are from?

This major task of solidifying the tourism and attraction business is led by Choose Chicago, the nonprofit organization that is responsible for raising funds and private donations under the close management of the City of Chicago. Chicago Defender reached out to Choose Chicago to request an estimated dollar amount that is projected from the NFL Draft week festivities going to local businesses and the hospitality industry, but the request has gone unanswered. Since the Defender couldn’t nail down any projections on ROI (return of investment) from them, the next concern is how does this event benefit the young Black student players from the inner-city community?

In negotiation with the NFL Association, one of the main attractions was the city’s eagerness to offer up parkland to build ‘Draft Town’ – the beautifully decorated tent housing situated on prime property in Grant Park. This location is a wonderful way for the public to connect to the activities surrounding draft week and it’s free for those who attend. There are youth clinics that have invited key youth football programs and their top young players to participate, but how many of these camps are based in the inner-city versus suburban area camps?

Chicago Jokers Football Camp is a program that has groomed young players from ages 8-14 years old for the past 14 years on the West Side. The program is run by Eric McClendon, affectionately known as Coach Mac, who utilizes the St. Lutheran Church gym every Saturday for the Spring and Summer camp schedule. With close to 100 students in the football camp, he makes sure his players are treated with just as much respect and priority as more high profile youth football camps.

“You have your suburban Blacks and you have Black people based in the city. The majority of the professional athletes are from the suburbs. They really won’t go to the city areas or the agents won’t allow them to pursue the inner city programs. If there is someone who can reach out to the professional athletes or to the NFL to let the players know about the inner city kids, it would benefit players and the parents. Even though the kids are from the inner city, they do look up to the professional ball players,” said McClendon.

There hasn’t been much of an outreach initiative from the NFL Association or the City of Chicago to involve inner city football camps such as the Chicago Jokers. With basketball being the focus and direction to help curve some of the violence that has plagued Black communities, football can sometimes take a backseat. Coach McClendon feels that some of the city’s best young high school basketball players had their initial athletic beginnings playing in youth football camps.

Coach McClendon explains, “A lot of our kids play basketball when they move on to high school. The number one high school basketball player last year was Cliff Alexander from Curie High School. He was one of our lineman on offense and defense when he played for us.”

Demetrius Lewis, a parent and athletic director of a South Suburban program, takes a similar approach to working with the players in his program. He started out coaching his son’s team when his son was four years old and took a committed role for the next eight years. Now his son attends Mt. Carmel High School, ranks as one of the top high school football players in Illinois and recently was inducted in the National Honor Society with a 4.0 GPA. Although, he feels the high schools and camps are there for young players, it is ultimately the responsibility of the parents to assist their talented kids with the challenges of facing key business decisions because those decisions will follow them into the hustle of the NFL.

“The role models have to be in the household and we need to educate ourselves– especially in the Black communities. A lot of minorities are behind the eight ball because we really don’t know. Outstanding athletes have scholarship offers all day, but their ACT scores are barely 15 or 16. They don’t know how important it is. They don’t realize they can take the test more than once. They have ACT prep programs out there, but instead they are buying Air Jordans. They can put the monies into an ACT prep program for the same price,” said Lewis.

Many in the business feel that although the NFL draft makes up a high percentage of African American collegiate athletes, it is the responsibility of the NFL Association and the City of Chicago to coordinate community outreach to the football youth camps and inner city programs. Many of the draft hopefuls will be in town from all of over the country for a few days and after a short break, they will soon be adjusting to their new home teams.

No one understands this process better than sports agent Tory Dandy of Relativity Sports which represents both professional and collegiate draft picks. One of his professional clients includes Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey.

“I hold myself accountable in regards to doing the business with not only the client but anybody who is considered in his inner circle – that is knowledgeable about the NFL draft process. Knowledgeable about the business side of the NFL, the financial side and the blessings of what it brings. I believe in reaching further in-depth about being aware of what’s going on,” explains Dandy.

Dandy has steadily become one of the leading NFL sports agents representing seven NFL draftees in this week’s ceremonies, including #7 ranked Kevin White (West Virginia), #27 ranked Eddie Goldman (Florida State), #30 ranked Ronald Darby (Florida State), #34 ranked Nelson Agholor (Southern California), #84 ranked Paul Dawson (Texas Christian University), #116 ranked Jamison Crowder and #121 ranked Mike Davis (South Carolina); according to CBS Sports the latest draft prospects.

Being one of the few African American agents in the field, Dandy makes no secret that his mentors include sports agent veteran, Eugene Parker.

Dandy adds, “We want to empower them, we want to give them the information and resources to truly make informed business decisions. Our philosophy is a lot different from others in this industry.”

The lives of the young collegiate players that Dandy represents will change before they depart Chicago with the weight on their shoulders to do their best for their new team and for those they are depending on to make them successful. Many of them will not know that approximately 1.5 miles west of the NFL “Draft Town” and 2.5 miles west of the structure are African American communities that will not have the opportunity to celebrate in their achievements.

The City of Chicago and Choose Chicago won’t reveal the amount of expenses involved in bringing the NFL Draft to town or how it will impact the revenue streams. Choose Chicago and the Chicago Sports Commission had to raise between $3 to 4 million to complete commitments to covering the demands that the league has requested. They have made assurances that Chicago taxpayers will not be burdened with the week-long production.

The Mayor’s efforts to secure high profile events such as the NFL Draft week for the beautiful City of Chicago are to be commended, but Black communities and other neighboring communities would also like to feel the unique economic benefits that downtown businesses will experience. When the opportunity arises to secure the NFL Association for the following year’s Draft Week, the “ROI or return on investment” should also include the African American communities from which many of the young players have come.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 11 = 17, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 11 – 17, 2026

Published

4 days ago

February 16, 2026

Oakland Post

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Discrimination in City Contracts

The report was made public by Councilmember Carroll Fife, who brought it this week to the Council’s Life Enrichment Committee, which she chairs. Councilmembers, angry at the conditions revealed, unanimously approved the informational report, which is scheduled to go to an upcoming council meeting for discussion and action. The current study covers five years, 2016-2021, roughly overlapping the two tenures of Libby Schaaf, who served as mayor from January 2015 to January 2023.

Published

1 week ago

February 13, 2026

Oakland Post

Dr. Eleanor Ramsey (top, left) founder, and CEO of Mason Tillman Associates, which conducted the study revealing contract disparities, was invited by District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife (top center) to a Council committee meeting attended by Oakland entrepreneur Cathy Adams (top right) and (bottom row, left to right) Brenda Harbin-Forte, Carol Wyatt, and councilmembers Charlene Wang and Ken Houston. Courtesy photos.

Disparity Study Exposes Oakland’s Lack of Race and Equity Inclusion

Part 1

By Ken Epstein

A long-awaited disparity study funded by the City of Oakland shows dramatic evidence that city government is practicing a deeply embedded pattern of systemic discrimination in the spending of public money on outside contracts that excludes minority- and woman-owned businesses, especially African Americans.

Instead, a majority of public money goes to a disproportionate handful of white male-owned companies that are based outside of Oakland, according to the 369-page report produced for the city by Mason Tillman Associates, an Oakland-based firm that performs statistical, legal and economic analyses of contracting and hiring.

The current study covers five years, 2016-2021, roughly overlapping the two tenures of Libby Schaaf, who served as mayor from January 2015 to January 2023.

The amount of dollars at stake in these contracts was significant in the four areas that were studied, a total of $486.7 million including $214.6 million on construction, $28.6 million on architecture, and engineering, $78.9 million on professional services, and $164.6 million on goods and services.

While the city’s policies are good, “the practices are not consistent with policy,” said Dr. Eleanor Ramsey, founder and CEO of Mason Tillman Associates.

There have been four disparity studies during the last 20 years, all showing a pattern of discrimination against women and minorities, especially African Americans, she said. “You have good procurement policy but poor enforcement.”

“Most minority- and women-owned businesses did not receive their fair share of city-funded contracts,” she continued. “Over 50% of the city’s prime contract dollars were awarded to white-owned male businesses that controlled most subcontracting awards. And nearly 65% of the city’s prime contracts were awarded to non-Oakland businesses.”

As a result, she said, “there is a direct loss of revenue to Oakland businesses and to business tax in the city… There is also an indirect loss of sales and property taxes (and) increased commercial office vacancies and empty retail space.”

Much of the discrimination occurs in the methods used by individual city departments when issuing outside contracts. Many departments have found “creative” ways to circumvent policies, including issuing “emergency” contracts for emergencies that do not exist and providing waivers to requirements to contract with women- and minority-owned businesses, Ramsey said.

Many of the smaller contracts – 59% of total contracts issued – never go to the City Council for approval.

Some people argue that the contracts go to a few big companies because small businesses either do not exist or cannot do the work. But the reality is that a majority of city contracts are small, under $100,000, and there are many Black-, woman- and minority-owned companies available in Oakland, said Ramsey.

“Until we address the disparities that we are seeing, not just in this report but with our own eyes, we will be consistently challenged to create safety, to create equity, and to create the city that we all deserve,” said Fife.

A special issue highlighted in the disparity report was the way city departments handled spending of federal money issued in grants through a state agency, Caltrans. Under federal guidelines, 17.06%. of the dollars should go to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs).

“The fact is that only 2.16% of all the dollars awarded on contracts (went to) DBEs,” Ramsey said.

Speaking at the committee meeting, City Councilmember Ken Houston said, “It’s not fair, it’s not right. If we had implemented (city policies) 24 years ago, we wouldn’t be sitting here (now) waiving (policies).”

“What about us? We want vacations. We want to have savings for our children. We’re dying out here,” he said.

Councilmember Charlene Wang said that she noticed when reading the report that “two types of business owners that are consistently experiencing the most appalling discrimination” are African Americans and minority females.

“It’s gotten worse” over the past 20 years, she said. “It’s notable that businesses have survived despite the fact that they have not been able to do business with their own city.”

Also speaking at the meeting, Brenda Harbin-Forte, a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge, and chair of the Legal Redress Committee for the Oakland NAACP, said, “I am so glad this disparity study finally was made public. These findings … are not just troubling, they are appalling, that we have let these things go on in our city.”

“We need action, we need activity,” she said. “We need for the City Council and others to recognize that you must immediately do something to rectify the situation that has been allowed to go on. The report says that the city was an active or inactive or unintentional or whatever participant in what has been going on in the city. We need fairness.”

Cathy Adams, president of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, said, “The report in my opinion was very clear. It gave directions, and I feel that we should accept the consultant Dr. Ramsey’s recommendations.

“We understand what the disparities are; it’s going to be upon the city, our councilmembers, and our department heads to just get in alignment,” she said.

Said West Oakland activist Carol Wyatt, “For a diverse city to produce these results is a disgrace. The study shows that roughly 83% of the city contracting dollars went to non-minority white male-owned firms under so-called race neutral policies

These conditions are not “a reflection of a lack of qualified local firms,” she continued. “Oakland does not have a workforce shortage; it has a training, local hire, and capacity-building problem.”

“That failure must be examined and corrected,” she said. “The length of time the study sat without action, only further heightens the need for accountability.”

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COMMENTARY: The National Protest Must Be Accompanied with Our Votes

Just as Trump is gathering election data like having the FBI take all the election data in Georgia from the 2020 election, so must we organize in preparation for the coming primary season to have the right people on ballots in each Republican district, so that we can regain control of the House of Representatives and by doing so, restore the separation of powers and balance that our democracy is being deprived of.

Published

1 week ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. File photo..

By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper

As thousands of Americans march every week in cities across this great nation, it must be remembered that the protest without the vote is of no concern to Donald Trump and his administration.

In every city, there is a personal connection to the U.S. Congress. In too many cases, the member of Congress representing the people of that city and the congressional district in which it sits, is a Republican. It is the Republicans who are giving silent support to the destructive actions of those persons like the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of Homeland Security, and the National Intelligence Director, who are carrying out the revenge campaign of the President rather than upholding the oath of office each of them took “to Defend The Constitution of the United States.”

In California, the primary comes in June 2026. The congressional races must be a priority just as much as the local election of people has been so important in keeping ICE from acquiring facilities to build more prisons around the country.

“We the People” are winning this battle, even though it might not look like it. Each of us must get involved now, right where we are.

In this Black History month, it is important to remember that all we have accomplished in this nation has been “in spite of” and not “because of.” Frederick Douglas said, “Power concedes nothing without a struggle.”

Today, the struggle is to maintain our very institutions and history. Our strength in this struggle rests in our “collectiveness.” Our newspapers and journalists are at the greatest risk. We must not personally add to the attack by ignoring those who have been our very foundation, our Black press.

Are you spending your dollars this Black History Month with those who salute and honor contributions by supporting those who tell our stories? Remember that silence is the same as consent and support for the opposition. Where do you stand and where will your dollars go?