Shame on Russell Wilson.
Shame on Patrick Mahomes.
Shame on Dak Prescott.
Shame on Deshaun Watson.
Shame on Lamar Jackson.
Hello …. is this on? Where are you?
As America burns in protests from sea to shining sea in the wake of the death of George Floyd — an unarmed black man killed by the knee of a white cop in Minneapolis — superstar athletes are lending their voices in support of the movement to end police brutality in this country.
Four years ago, Colin Kaepernick, now a black ex-NFL quarterback, tried to bring this problem to light and put it on the national stage in an attempt to end the criminal police violence against black and brown people.
And since all hell has broken loose, we’ve heard from quarterbacks from all over the place. There’s only one problem thus far.
We’ve heard from the white ones, not the right ones.
And that is sad.
But it’s not that surprising. You see, some have a history of looking the other way.
It was sad and pathetic when they turned their backs on Kaepernick in 2016 after his peaceful, silent protests — taking a knee during the national anthem before games. Most couldn’t even lend their public support to his cause. How can you not be against police brutality to people who look like you, your brothers, sisters and family?
As the leader of men, Kap was making the ultimate sacrifice, giving up his high-end life to take on a cause about others, many of whom he didn’t even know.
In the wake of this life-changing moment in this country, instead, we have heard from: Eagles’ QB Carson Wentz
Bengals’ rookie QB Joe Burrow
And Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence
Bravo to all three.
Yes, even a college kid had the ability to speak up for right and wrong without worrying about what others will say or do because of his comments.
The only thing more impressive than his words was his action. It’s not his fight. He will NEVER be in the situation these unarmed brown people have and will be in. Yet, he found the courage to speak out and not turn the other way.
In a tweet, Lawrence didn’t mince words or play the middle of the road. Instead, the field leader picked a side.
“I’m siding with my brothers that deal, and continuously deal, with things I will never experience. The injustice is clear… and so is the hate. It can no longer be explained away. If you’re still ‘explaining’ it — check your heart and ask why.”
Damn. Wish that was one of those popular black quarterbacks standing up for the right side of justice and their people.
To this point, Watson, Mahomes and Prescott haven’t made a peep.
Wilson has tweeted out. “Jesus we need you now.”
And Jackson is in retweet mode when he comes to this grave situation.
Disgraceful. Embarrassing. Especially since so many look up to these guys. They are, after all, the faces of billion-dollar franchises.They have power, status and many fans — both black and white — look up to them as role models.
The black quarterback has always been special to black fans. It was that last position on the field that white people didn’t want to give up to minorities. For decades, we were told we weren’t smart enough or good enough to handle a thinking man’s position.
Team owners just didn’t want the face of the franchise to be black or brown.
To see the NFL now filled with so many dynamic black QBs is inspiring and makes so many proud. Yes, in a sense, we’ve overcome.
That was Kaepernick’s idea, too. He wanted people to stop living in the past and start treating all people equally no matter their skin color. The message was peaceful and just. It fell on deaf ears by most of his black NFL peers, a league that is roughly 70 percent African American.
Clearly from the sad result in Minny, Kaepernick was right. The masses were wrong.
I can remember the joy that so many black sports fans had when QB Doug Williams led that Washington D.C. football team to a Super Bowl XXII victory over the Denver Broncos, earning the MVP and the distinction of being the first black QB to win a Super Bowl. It knocked down that last barrier — that we couldn’t lead.
Sadly, some of the current star black QBs have failed to lead when they were needed most — off the field.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
