When Robert Kraft introduced Jerod Mayo as the New England Patriots’ head coach—marking the franchise’s first Black head coach in its history—both men addressed race in ways that highlighted different perspectives. Kraft explained his decision by emphasizing performance and fit, saying “I’m really colorblind in terms of … what I feel like on Sunday when we lose” and that his priority was winning: “I want to get the best people I can get. I chose the best head coach for this organization. He happens to be a man of color. But I chose him because I believe he’s best to do the job.”
Mayo responded by acknowledging the significance of being the franchise’s first Black head coach but also offering a different view on race. Instead of adopting Kraft’s “colorblind” phrasing, he said, “I do see color because I believe if you don’t see color, you can’t see racism,” and elaborated that recognizing differences matters so people can understand one another and work “to fix the problem that we all know we have.”
In other words, Kraft framed his hiring decision around merit and said he doesn’t “see color” in evaluating who should lead the team, while Mayo made clear that he does see color as a way of acknowledging and confronting racism rather than ignoring it.
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