Sports and entertainment have always been windows of opportunity for African Americans, when other doors were closed. Even with the opportunities being great as players, we still suffered under the misconception that we couldn't be the quarterback or middle linebacker because we weren't smart enough. And today there are still very few African American head coaches, and even fewer administrators. We need to get over the issues of color and focus clearly on talent and work ethic. But we've been saying that since 1620.
Professional sports is a business.
And historically the owners have used loyalty to a team or a city to hold players as opposed to always paying their worth. Players today are concerned about the money, but the large dollars only go to those players who are the best. If a player demonstrated that he is the best, and a team decides, even so, we don't want to pay him, as in any other business, he should be able to play elsewhere. I've always found it interesting that athletes are thought of as being greedy because of the salaries. Athletes apparently are held to a higher standard.