NFL
Two weeks ago, George Floyd, was brutally murdered by Derek Chauvin.
We have seen protests all over the country and all over the world.
Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Odell Beckham Jr., Tyrann Mathieu, Ezekiel Elliott, DeAndre Hopkins, and many other players across the league joined forces in asking the NFL to speak out against injustice towards people of color in much more critical language than the league has committed to. Players in the video rhetorically asked the NFL “what if I was George Floyd?”
Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement: “We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. There wouldn’t be an NFL without African Americans.”
In order to move forward, we must look at the past.
The first game in NFL history was played on October 3, 1920, between the Columbus Panhandles and the Dayton Triangles.
- In 1989, The Los Angeles Raiders named Art Shell their head coach. Shell became the first African American coach in the modern NFL,69 years after the first official football game was played.
- On November 22, 2002, Ozzie Newsome made NFL history when he became the first-ever African American general manager in the league.
- There are no African-American owners in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan praised former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for trying to bring the issue of racism and police brutality to light with his protests during the national anthem in the 2016 season. He also asked the question?
“How the heck are there only four black coaches out of 32 head coaches. How are there only two GMs? The majority of our players are black. So the fact that there’s that few, that’s not debatable. I don’t know if people are openly thinking they’re doing it. But that’s what the problem is. That number is not debatable. That is an issue. I think we talked about it a lot. It is something that has to get better.”
It is time for all NFL owners to literally and figuratively kneel with their places. The time for talking is over.
Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, summed it up best, “It has never been about the flag, the anthem, not then not now, not ever.”
Unfortunately in 2020, we still have to talk about racism. It’s about time the NFL owners show leadership and solidarity. Not just in words but in actions as well. It is time to grow and evolve. They can start by having meetings with Kaepernick on race relations.
Black Lives Matter.
Follow The Sports Whisperer on Twitter:MonteJP231
Follow The Sports Whisperer on Facebook: Monte Perez
Follow The Sports Whisperer on Instagram: Monte Perez 2
