He was saluting the man, not taking on The Man

The glove would have caught flak.

But it also would have caught our throats, our consciences, our moment.

The glove would have sparked a controversy whose flames would have engulfed the NFL down to its buttoned-up core.

But it also would have reflected America’s fire within.

The practical part of me was relieved that Brandon Marshall’s touchdown celebration for the Denver Broncos was stopped before it cost his team a penalty and possibly the game.

But the patriotic part of me wishes he would have done it anyway.

Did you see it? You should have seen it.

Thursday night, an end zone in Cleveland, final minutes of the game, Marshall caught a touchdown pass that gave the Broncos an eventual 34-30 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

He immediately pulled what appeared to be a glove out of the front of his pants, obviously preparing for some sort of elaborate celebration, when teammate Brandon Stokley ran up to him with wagging fingers and a constraining hug.

Gesture stopped. Celebration over. What happened?

Hiding his emotion behind sunglasses, Marshall later explained that he wasn’t trying to deify himself, but his president-elect.

He was going to be the first athlete to publicly honor Barack Obama.

“Barack Obama’s election as the 44th president of the United States is a tremendous symbol of unity,” Marshall said, reading a statement. “I want to create that symbol of unity because Obama inspires me [and] a multicultural society.”

Forty years after two other star athletes raised black-gloved fists to protest racial inequality, Marshall was going to raise a fist covered in a half-black, half-white glove to symbolize racial progress.

“I know that at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised that black glove and fist in a silent gesture of black power and liberation,” he said. “I wanted to make my own statement and gesture to represent the progress we made.”

It would have been strange, awkward and beautiful.

As millions of Americans continue to celebrate the historical implications of Obama’s election -- the lines outside this newspaper’s building for souvenir copies were still a block long Friday -- why not athletes?

They work on playing fields that placed the first cracks in the wall that Obama has shattered. They work in the diverse and tolerant environment that has been fertile soil for the growth of minority leaders everywhere.

If there was no Jackie Robinson, there would be no Barack Obama, and can it really hurt for today’s sport stars to remind us of this?

“Sports knocked down the barriers, it is still one of the only places where everything is based on merit,” said Todd Boyd, USC professor of critical studies and author of books on culture and race. “Sports showed us how you can judge someone simply on their ability to perform a task, without regard to race.”

It’s easier to gain inspiration to become the black quarterback of a country when you see blacks leading teams in every sport, including playing quarterback for real. Obama has talked often of his sports inspirations, and Marshall was just gesturing back.

“I might get some criticism, but social landmarks are bigger than fines to me, especially two days out of an historic election,” Marshall said.

It would have been cool. But it also would have been a mess.

Stokley not only saved Marshall from those fines, but probably saved the country from a couple of days of culture-induced hysteria.

Marshall definitely would have been penalized for the gesture, the Broncos would have kicked off from deep in their territory, and, with 1:14 remaining, the Browns would have been set up on a midfield for a potential winning drive.

If the Browns scored and won, could you imagine the outcry? Half of the people would rip the NFL for penalizing a social statement, and the other half would have been ripping Marshall for making it.

“Roger Goodell would have been painted into a corner,” Boyd said of the NFL commissioner. “If the league did nothing, they’d be accused of being too lenient because of Obama, and if a penalty was called, they’d be accused of squelching free expression.”

Marshall’s thought was wonderful, but Stokley’s was even better.

Remember that in 1968, Smith and Carlos had already won their medals at the time of their protest, while this game was still in doubt.

Also remember that Marshall was suspended for one game at the start of the season for various bad off-field behavior, so a penalty wouldn’t have helped his postgame credibility.

This is why he wasn’t upset when Stokley stopped him.

“I still got to say what I wanted to say,” he said.

We all got to hear it. And don’t be surprised if we hear it in other venues, from other teams, as the post-election glow continues.

To most, Barack Obama was just elected to the highest office in the land.

But to the black athletes who have won these types of contests for years, it’s simply, he’s got next.

--

bill.plaschke@latimes.com