Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions might not have intended for their actions to start a broader movement, but it seems that’s exactly what has happened. Two days after the Lions players, coaches and management uniformly decided that speaking out about social justice and racial equality was more important than practicing on the football field, nine other NFL teams followed Detroit’s lead.
The nine teams who opted to stand with the Lions and devote a day of scheduled practice into social activism and awareness include two of Detroit’s NFC North rivals. The impetus for the actions, the police shooting of Jacob Blake, took place in between Chicago and Green Bay in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
- Chicago Bears
- Denver Broncos
- Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Indianapolis Colts
- New York Jets
- Green Bay Packers
- Tennessee Titans
- Washington Football Team
The NBA playoffs were suspended for two days, while the NHL will also not play on Thursday. Several MLB games have been postponed by players as well.
Patricia humbly deflected taking credit for being the first pro sports team to boycott in order to attack social injustice. When asked about it during his pre-practice Zoom session with reporters on Thursday, Patricia responded,
“I appreciate this team and really thankful for this team and the players that I get the privilege to stand in front of every morning, so certainly that’s not lost in any of this conversation. I think those guys are great, and I think that if there’s any chance that we got everybody to maybe stop and think for a minute, that’s really great. I think we have a simple saying as ‘just listen.’ Right now, that’s all we want people to really do is listen.”
Mission accomplished, coach.
