Senior Capstone Project
Adding Some Color
Why one football position group has lacked diversity since its inception, and what can be done to fix it?
By: Jonathan Ward
Despite football rosters at Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBUCs) consisting of nearly all Black players, specialists are almost always white, even though white players are in the minority on HBCU teams. Specialists are kickers, punters and long snappers. “This is mirrored in the NFL where Black role models are rarely found in specialist positions and where the wealthy have more access,” said Anthony Prevost, a Black former All-American specialist at Hampton University.
Segregation on the field is part of the NFL and has been for decades. Throughout the NFL’s
history there have been few Black quarterbacks and there were no Black specialists until 1977 when Florida A&M University punter Greg Coleman broke the specialists barrier, 13 years after the Civil Rights Bill was passed and 31 years after the National Football League re-integrated. Today, of the NFL 96 specialists on active rosters, only two are Black, Corliss Waitman punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mitchell Fraboni, long snapper for the Denver
Broncos.
Until the 1970s, the NFL was dominated by white quarterbacks because coaches, managers and league executives didn’t believe Black players were smart enough to hold leadership positions.
Black quarterbacks have just started to see more diversity within the position in the last decade. In 1977 only 5 Black quarterbacks had at least one pass attempt at some point throughout the NFL season. That number rose to 15 in 2016, triple the amount of 40 years prior according to a study done by Football Perspective.
As of 2021, 58% of NFL athletes identify as Black according to Statista, yet still many face racial discrimination in modern day football. That’s because of a concept that gained popularity in the NFL in the 1970s known as racial stacking.
Racial stacking is structured racial discrimination within sports teams and franchises and
includes assigning players to particular positions based on their racial or ethnic background. As league executives did not believe Black quarterbacks were smart enough and capable of holding leadership positions, some still believe that Black players don’t have the capability to learn how to play the elite specialist positions, due to how difficult it is to become elite at them.
Racial stacking is not limited to players. It also includes the governance and oversight within sports organizations including coaches administration and front office staff.
Non-white coaches in the NFL have struggled to be given the same amount of opportunities after their first head coaching position in comparison to white coaches. From 1963- 2022 82% of head coaching rehires after their first stint were white while just 18% were of color according to the NFL’s Official 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Report.
Between 2012-2022, 52 white coaches and 13 coaches of color were hired, according to the NFL’s Official 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Report. A study at Utah State University analyzed more than 20,000 NFL players from 1960 to 2020 and determined that Black players have not been given equal access to the most prestigious and lucrative positions, said Christy Glass and Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde, Sociology professors at Utah State University.
"Just because an organization is highly diverse doesn’t mean that it’s equal,” said Marquez-
Velarde in an article about her and Glass’s study. They also found that Black players were more likely to play in higher-risk positions while white players on average were compensated better and played wless-risk injury positions.
Specialists have limited time on the field, but some of the most important jobs in the game.
Games are often decided by field goals, which uses all three specialist positions on the field at once. Punting also plays a huge factor in the ability to flip field position, making it harder for the opposing team to score.
Hampton University Special Teams Coordinator Darren Jackson, said he had first- hand
experience with racial stacking among specialists for the most of his coaching career. After
playing high school football at Gloucester High School, he went on to play for the Liberty
Flames in Lynchburg, Virginia.
“Liberty was where I kind of got a knack for (being) a special teams guy, and right after college, I went into coaching,” Jackson said.
Before coming to Hampton, in Jackson’s previous nine coaching jobs, no specialists on his teams
were Black. When he took the Head Coaching job at Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, he had
two Hispanic kickers.
“Many athletes of color don’t pursue careers as specialists. Since there aren’t many renowned
Black kickers, punters and long snappers, younger players of color don’t have a role model “look
up to” and coaches don’t entice players to play the position,” Jackson said.
Also, Black players are pushed into more high-profile positions.
“When you look at punters, kickers and long snappers, when Black kids are out playing, nobody
says “Oh I just want to kick the ball, or Oh I just want to snap the ball, they want to throw it, run
it, or catch it. It’s not really heavily promoted within our community, like any other position is,”
Jackson said.
I didn't think long snapping would be the ticket that got me to where I am today said Mitch Fraboni, a biracial long snapper for the Denver Broncos. After a successful career at Arizona State and multiple stints in The Spring League and United States Football League, he finally signed with the Denver Broncos in 2022 as their full time long snapper on roster.
"I wholeheartedly wanted to play a different position. I didn't think long snapping was fun at the time. It's not a desirable position, by any means, no young kid is saying I want to be a long snapper." added Fraboni.
It takes a very different person to be a specialist because your falling in love with the operation of things, you're falling in love with the operation of things, you're falling in love with how can I make myself better with one thing, and a lot of kids like to do a lot of different things.
Anthony Prevost a Black former HBCU All-American kicker for the Hampton Pirates, agrees
that part of the decision comes from the players.
“You’re normally seeing within the Black community, “Hey, go play quarterback play running
back play receiver play DB and of course if you’re above the lineman measurements, you’re
going to be put on the line. The specialists opportunities and the specialists positions aren’t as
heavily highlighted or glorified within our community,” said Prevost a
Black former HBCU All-American kicker for the Hampton Pirates.
From Chesterfield, VA, Prevost was a standout athlete at Thomas Dale High School
as a
quarterback, kicker, punter, cornerback, and kick returner. He helped lead the Knights to the
2009 VHSL 6A State Championship and graduated in 2012. Prevost had opportunities to play at
the University of Richmond, Old Dominion, Virginia State and Virginia Tech, but ultimately
chose to play at Hampton University, his only opportunity for a full scholarship. Prevost
went on to earn All-Conference and All-American honors as a kicker for the Pirates going 19/20
on field goals his redshirt Freshman season in 2013.
Prevost went on to play professional indoor football with the Richmond Rough Riders in the
American Arena League and won 2 league championships as well. He now works with the
National Football Combine. As a Junior at Hampton University, Prevost began Superior
Specialist in 2015, a specialist training business aimed at providing aspiring kickers, punters and
long snappers. He offers training at an affordable rate, giving a window of opportunity to those
who do not pursue specialist positions because of finances.
Most specialists are not drafted to the NFL or a professional team out of college and only a select few play in NFL games their first year out of college. As a result, players must pick up
another job to have a supportive income outside jobs while training and waiting for a camp invite
or workout. Athletes from wealthier families have an advantage when pursuing these specialist careers because they can lean on family financial support when in between jobs while training.
They also aren’t forced to retire earlier for financial reasons and are able to continue to pursue
their professional Careers.
In 2025, Gary Zauner’s Specialist Camp in Fountain Hills, Arizona, an expensive elite camp,
had only one or two Black specialists in attendance . One was Black long
snapper Carson Buchanan, a former long snapper at Tennessee State currently pursuing a career
at the professional level.
“When it comes to my position, there aren’t a whole lot of us. I was the only one at the camp.
Were there other minorities, yes, but I was the only Black long snapper,” said Buchanan.
As a three-sport athlete at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee, Buchanan played
basketball, baseball and football, where he was typically a linemen as well as a long snapper. It
wasn’t until his junior year when an opposing coach sparked his interest to solely long snap at
the next level.
“I had a coach from the opposite team tell me, I can really snap the ball, and it kind of clicked
In. If I’m not going to play football and be able to play my natural position, I can play as a
specialist and embrace being a specialist,” said Buchanan.
He went on to have a successful career for the Tennessee State Tigers, as an All-Ohio Valley
Conference player and helping lead the Tigers to the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference
Championship. He was also selected as the long snapper for the HBCU Legacy, which is the top
bowl game, and highlights the best draft eligible HBCU players every
year.
Buchanan was then invited to Zauner’s camp to compete and learn with some of the top
draft eligible specialists in the country. A former Special Teams Coordinator for the Minnesota
Vikings, Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens. Zauner has placed some of the most established specialists in the NFL.
While at the camp Buchanan received some advice from the only other United Football League
(UFL) minority at the camp about how to navigate a career as a Black specialist.
“He was also telling me, that you’ve got to continue to come to these camps and you got to be
around. That’s where the drop off is for minority specialists, I think,” said Buchanan.
Bringing more exposure and giving minorities more access to avenues to become a specialists are how the sports can bridge its racial gap among the position.
"I think that its going to be a mix of people playing in the league and gaining that exposure that way, but I also think it's going to come from the community itself. Specialists that may not make it to the league, but they can now share their knowledge with the younger generation to grow, learn from and take and run with," said Fraboni.