I heard people say Josh Rosen (white QB from UCLA) was well-spoken. Plenty of white OL prospects too.

However I'd say the bar is lower for white people to call black people, and especially young black males, well-spoken. Stemming from a general place of surprise that a black person would be easily understood and able to communicate using standard white bread English.

To me it is relatively harmless compared to overt racism, or even passive racism, but points out an presumption that many people hold without even thinking of it.

And I'd also agree there is an age/generation aspect to it at times as well.

I can't speak for anyone else's life experiences but my own. I spent a career evaluating and selecting leadership talent. The ability to communicate effectively is a key element in generating followership and transcends age, race, gender, etc. I get why Leonard was selected to captain the defense. Besides his obvious athletic talents the dude shows up like a leader.

God help us if we're to the point where we have to villainize people for saying something nice about someone else. Here's an article referring to Andrew Luck as "well-spoken":

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...-ads/91486374/

And here's an internet post calling Matt Hasselback "well spoken":

https://www.reddit.com/r/Colts/comme...ame_interview/

They are easy to find - just type your favorite player's name into Google with the term "well spoken" and you'll find that nearly everyone has been called this at some point in their career. People are sometimes also called "articulate" or "eloquent", they mean pretty much the same thing and they are all compliments.

Maybe its more noticeable with football players because of the stereotype of the "big dumb jock" - I don't know - or maybe it's used with young players because fans don't know much about them yet and they are thirsty for info - any info - to justify their fanship. But this is a silly discussion.

Nobody was villianized.

Perhaps that was a bit of an overstatement, but what was the point of your original comment on this subject?

It’s an observation I found funny. To me it is an odd comment and I hear people say it about black dudes a lot.

I would venture to guess that they would all prefer to be thought of as "well spoken of" than just "well spoken"

Have you ever been told that you are well spoken?

nope

your mom told me i was well hung though

Back ob topic. Darius Leonard named AFC defensive player of the week per Colts.com:

Hopefully he turns out a whole lot better than both of those ass clowns listed above.