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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Giants Players Consider Protest After Tulsa Shooting; More NFL Demonstrations Expected

Several NFL Giants players yesterday said that they "may consider some form of protest to raise further awareness over the use of lethal force against minorities by police" following the recent shooting death of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, according to Tom Rock of NEWSDAY. Giants LB Keenan Robinson said, "We are guys who have a voice, and we understand our voice is seen and heard across the world." Giants RB Rashad Jennings added that he has been "involved on a text thread with about 85 players around the NFL that discusses such topics." He noted that he has "had several conversations" with 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick. Jennings "did not say whether he will continue to stand" for the National Anthem, but he is "clearly putting thought into the decision." He said, "Privileged people need to defend and actually voice out, not the oppressed. ... The people who are privileged need to voice it themselves and say: 'This isn't right.' That's what Kaep's doing, that's what a lot of people are doing." Rock notes Giants coach Ben McAdoo last month said that he "would be 'disappointed' if one of his players did not stand for the anthem" (NEWSDAY, 9/21).

CASE IN POINT
: Broncos LB Brandon Marshall, one of the players to kneel during the Anthem this season, called the video of the Tulsa shooting "very saddening." Marshall: "Especially to hear someone in the helicopter say, 'That looks like a bad dude.' How does that look like a bad dude? You're way up in the air. That's something that's disturbing, but that's exactly the reason we're protesting." He said that he "believes the subdued national reaction to the killing compares to the reaction he's received for his own peaceful protest." Marshall: "It just lets me know that we have a long way to go" (DENVER POST, 9/21). Kaepernick said of Tulsa, "This is a perfect example of what this is about. It will be very telling about what happens to the officer that killed him" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/21). Chiefs WR Chris Conley on Twitter lamented the fact the Tulsa shooting "won't garner the same attention" as either Kaepernick's protest or the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt divorce (K.C. STAR, 9/21). In Miami, Greg Cote notes player demonstrations again are expected "around the NFL" this weekend. He writes, "You wonder why the protests continue? This is why" (MIAMI HERALD, 9/21).

FOLLOW THROUGH
: In San Jose, Cam Inman reports Kaepernick is "following through" on a $1M pledge to support communities. He said yesterday that he "plans to award $100,000 monthly over the next 10 months to programs he's currently reviewing, with those distributions posted on a website he's currently building." The goal is to "demonstrate full transparency throughout the process." Meanwhile, during 49ers-Panthers on Sunday, Kaepernick "received verbal and visible taunts from fans before and at halftime." He said, "There's a lot of racism disguised as patriotism in this country and people don't like to address that and they don't like to address what the root of this protest is. You have players across this country, not only in the NFL but soccer and NBA and high school players, they don't like to address this issue that people of color are oppressed and treated unjustly." Kaepernick was "heartened and encouraged that a white NFL player," Patriots DE Chris Long, had "come forward to speak about the issue and support his cause" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/21). USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes, "Try as so many have to brush off the protests by athletes, to frame them in such a way so as to distort or ignore the message, Kaepernick and the others who have so bravely taken a stand refuse to be denied." The discrimination they are "protesting is too damaging to all of us to go unchallenged." It is "telling that, each week, their numbers grow" (USA TODAY, 9/21).

WORKING TOGETHER: In Miami, Armando Salguero notes the four Dolphins players who protest the Anthem -- WR Kenny Stills, LB Jelani Jenkins, S Michael Thomas and RB Arian Foster -- with support from the Dolphins and the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, this week "invited community leaders, police officers, and team personnel to a Dolphins Town Hall to discuss the issues of concern and start looking for ways to address them." They invited police and community leaders who "devote much of their time working with youth." Dolphins staff attended, as did Pro Football HOFer Dan Marino and rapper Luther Campbell (MIAMI HERALD, 9/21).

NBA SEASON ON THE HORIZON: The Undefeated's Clinton Yates said player protests will continue when the NBA season begins later this year, and Commissioner Adam Silver has got a "little bit of an issue on his hands." Yates: "I don’t mean in terms of a bad thing, but this is going to have to be a well-managed situation in order to not make it seem as if the players are the only people running the league." Yates does not anticipate Silver having a "huge problem with irresponsibility to deal with," but he will have to "deal with it from a specific league standpoint, because players are going to go out on their own and express themselves anyway” (“Outside the Lines,” ESPN, 9/20). NBA TV's Steve Smith also expects NBA players to protest, but he said, "I would tell them -- you've got to go to your teammates before you do anything publicly. Tell them what you plan on doing, because it will impact the entire team and it will become a distraction from what you're trying to accomplish on the court. You don't want them to be blindsided" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 9/20).

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