After an offseason in which multiple instances of police brutality of people of color forced the NFL to at least pretend to be aware of its player’s concerns on the matter, the Miami Dolphins’ entire player roster has made it very clear that these players aren’t taking the bait.
Per ESPN’s Jay Williams, Dolphins players will stay in their locker room before the team faces the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
BREAKING NEWS: The@MiamiDolphins players will stay inside for both national anthems. They express their discontentment with what they call “fluff and empty gestures” by the @NFL pic.twitter.com/ghUktHhPt9
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) September 10, 2020
By “Both anthems,” Williams refers to the Star-Spangled Banner, and “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” traditionally known as the Black national anthem, which the NFL plans to play before every game this season.
“This attempt to unify only creates more divide. So we’ll skip this song and dance, and as a team we’ll stay inside” multiple Dolphins players combined to say in a video released on Thursday. “We need changed hearts, not just a response to pressure. Enough, no more fluff and empty gestures. We need owners with influence and pockets bigger than ours to call up officials and flex political power.”
Linebacker Elandon Roberts had perhaps the most powerful statement.
"So, if my dad was a soldier, and the cops killed my brother;
Do I stand for one anthem, and kneel for the other?" https://t.co/vvmdc1afih— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 10, 2020
At the end of the video, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores added his voice.
“Before the media starts wondering and guessing, they just answered all your questions. We’ll just stay inside.”
Clearly, players and coaches of color — and their white teammates who have reached out and learned what the real social justice initiatives are all about — want to see more from the NFL than a bunch of approved protests and empty slogans in end zones.
"End Racism" in small poorly visible letters right above the giant Native American team name is very on brand for both the NFL and our society as a whole https://t.co/5yKB4b51Pj
— Jon Tayler, Smiling Politely (@JATayler) September 10, 2020
Back in 2018, the Dolphins were the first team to issue an internal rule in which players who protest on the field during the anthem could be suspended for up to four games.
“Players who are on the field during the Anthem performance must stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem,” the statement said, regarding conduct detrimental.
