Onalaska ISD superintendent regrets posting 'you can't count on a black quarterback'



>>Scenes from the game in question. The Onalaska ISD superintendent apologized Monday for saying "you can't count on a black quarterback" on Facebook.

>>Scenes from the game in question. The Onalaska ISD superintendent apologized Monday for saying "you can't count on a black quarterback" on Facebook. Photo: Onalaska ISD Website Photo: Onalaska ISD Website Image 1 of / 126 Caption Close Onalaska ISD superintendent regrets posting 'you can't count on a black quarterback' 1 / 126 Back to Gallery

Onalaska ISD Superintendent Lynn Redden said he wished he never posted a comment on the Chron.com Facebook page Monday morning saying "you can't count on a black quarterback."

Redden, who oversees the Onalaska school district about 100 miles north of Houston, said he thought he was responding to a private message from a friend. Instead, he posted the comment on a Facebook post promoting a Chron.com story about the Texans' recent loss.

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In the post, he referenced the last play of the game in which quarterback Deshaun Watson held the ball as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

"That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I've seen in the NFL," he said. "When you need precision decision making you can't count on a black quarterback."

Photo: Facebook The Onalaska ISD superintendent apologized Monday for saying "you...

He said he deleted the post when he realized it was, in fact, a public post.

"I totally regret it," he said in a phone interview with Chron.com.

Spring resident Matt Ericksen sent Chron.com screenshots of the message on Monday morning. He said he didn't have children in the district, but he wanted to shine a light on what he feels was a blatantly racist comment.

"It's important to make sure horrible words are met with consequences, especially for those in powerful positions with influence," Ericksen said.

Redden told Chron.com that he has not faced any repercussions from the post as of Monday afternoon. He said he understands how people may interpret the post as racist, but he said he didn't intend for it to come across that way.

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He said he was referring to the statistical success of black NFL quarterbacks.

"Over the history of the NFL, they have had limited success," Redden told Chron.com.

The educator's comments come 30 years after Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, who is black, led the team to victory in Super Bowl XXII. Williams was the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, and his historic win was widely seen as dispensing with stereotypes about black quarterbacks. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became the second black quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl win in 2013.

But according to The Washington Post, a 2017 study by University of Colorado researchers found that unconscious racial bias still influences views of quarterbacks, with black quarterbacks seen as "talented and strong and their white counterparts as smart and hard-working."

About 1,020 children attend Onalaska ISD, according to a database from the Texas Tribune. Redden said he hopes none of the students saw the post.

"I wish it had never been posted," he said.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com