Utah State University Sociology professors Christy Glass and Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde belong to a team of researchers taking a closer look at race in the NFL. Their research used data spanning 60 years to show that Black athletes are segregated into the league's highest-risk positions while White players still dominate the highest-paying roles. Glass, Marquez-Velarde, and their co-authors — researchers from Harvard, Morehouse, University of Massachusetts, and an independent sports analyst — have found that while Black and African American athletes make up the majority of NFL players, they have not been given equal access to the most prestigious and lucrative positions within the league. The paper, titled The Paradox of Integration, appears in Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.
Christy Glass is Professor of Sociology at Utah State University. Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Utah State University.
