Former NFLer Benjamin Watson said the league has “taken tremendous steps in the right direction” when it comes to the fight for social justice. During an interview in the third installment of SBJ: The Road Ahead Virtual Series, Watson said, “Within NFL teams, we've seen players get really motivated to try to understand. So, throughout this pandemic, there's been no off season in the NFL.” Watson noted America is experiencing an awakening and Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem in ’16 plays a large role in that. “He's a vital part of that because we keep looking back to the things that he was saying, the things that others were all saying about what he did and the reasons why he did them, police brutality, a person of black and Brown people, all those sorts of things,” said Watson.
Athletes and leagues have been making a push to encourage people to get out and vote this election season and Watson fully believes the power it has in making changes. Watson: “Voting is our primary way to be involved as individual citizens in this country.” He added, “To be able to vote without having someone breathing down your neck, to have the privilege, to be an American and vote, getting people registered and getting people to understand that they need to be involved in the political process, I think is the first step to really taking that action.”
Watson also touched on the importance of diversity throughout the league office. “In the NFL, you obviously have the coaches, you have the GM, you have the owner of those things, but there's a whole other side that we don't see,” said Watson. “The NFL is a business, a billion-dollar business. There are people in marketing, in finance, in accounting, in PR, community relations, all those sorts of things. What are those C-level? We need to have programs and intentional programs to hire those who may not look like the owner. That has to be intentional, and we have to push for that. We have to make people realize that there's a benefit to having them, not just talking about it, but being about it.”
