Saints linebacker Demario Davis, a member of the Players Coalition, has been vocal in his support of Amendment 2 that would require unanimous verdicts in Louisiana.Getty Images
Louisiana is one of two states in which a jury need not come to a unanimous verdict to send a person to prison for a felony. New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis wants to change that.
“Two people could find someone innocent and they could still be convicted of the charges,” Davis said. “So what we are asking for is: We don’t want Louisiana to be any different than any other state.”
Davis, a member of the Players Coalition, is lending his voice — including co-authoring an opinion piece in the local Times-Picayune — in support of Amendment 2 on the Louisiana state ballot in next Tuesday’s election. If it passes, it would require all 12 members of a jury to vote for conviction.
NFL players who are part of the Players Coalition are involved in a variety of issues across the country surrounding the Nov. 6 election, from voter registration initiatives in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Florida to advocating for ballot initiatives in Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Louisiana.
The public support from Davis and his teammate, Benjamin Watson, who co-authored the op-ed, has made a difference in raising support for the initiative, said Danny Engelberg, chief of trials in the Orleans Public Defenders office.
“Voters who would not normally know about this issue now know about it and are more likely to vote,” Engelberg said. “He has an incredible following on social media and when he speaks, people listen.”
In Georgia, former NFL players and Players Coalition members Takeo Spikes, Adalius Thomas and Michael Jenkins were preparing to speak out regarding the state’s denial of 53,000 voter registrations, the majority of which are African-Americans.
“For this upcoming election, we’ve placed our efforts on both restoring the rights of those who have been denied the opportunity to vote, as well as advocate for voter registration and key ballot initiatives that are designed to help people,” said the Philadelphia Eagles’ Malcolm Jenkins in an email.
Jenkins co-founded the Players Coalition in 2016 with former NFL star Anquan Boldin, who lost a cousin to police violence, to battle social injustice in the U.S.
“In the spring of 2016, with the influx of police shootings across the country — Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, the police in Dallas — I couldn’t just continue to be vocal on social media,” Jenkins said. He started doing research on criminal justice and found other NFL players were doing the same thing. They formed the Players Coalition to work on the issues together.
As has been reported, the NFL pledged nearly $90 million over the next six years to the group, and players are pledging funds as well. The organization is set up as both an independent 501(c)(3) charitable foundation and 501(c)(4) advocacy organization.
“Our goals are to draw awareness and mainstream attention on the racial disparities and social injustices that are oppressing communities of color,” Jenkins said.
Since its inception, members of the coalition have been working on the state and local level, including meeting with district attorneys and public defenders as well as state legislators. “Our focus is on impacting racial and social inequality, and the work centers around three pillars: criminal justice reform, police/community relations and education/economic advancement,” Jenkins said. “The three pillars are intersected, in that one impacts the other.”
This election provides an opportunity to advance the group’s goals. “All of the guys have a common ground that people need to vote and that reform leads to positive impact,” Jenkins said. “Voting is, frankly, a non-controversial topic that most players are pretty passionate about, because we care about the welfare of our communities.”
Earlier this year, Davis and Watson lobbied the Louisiana State Legislature for voter rights and endorsed a bill to return voting rights to people with felony convictions. Davis is scheduled to attend a “Rock The Vote” event this week in New Orleans.
Prior to getting involved with the Players Coalition, Davis was involved in his own foundation, which benefited underprivileged children in Mississippi, where he grew up. He was invited to a meeting of the coalition with NFL owners in New York by a fellow player.
“I realized the coalition’s goals were aligned with my goals,” he said. “I felt, ‘Why work as an individual when you can work alongside other guys who were working toward a common goal?’”
