Several Carolina Panthers used their platform as professional athletes in a thoughtful way Thursday, calling for peace as they addressed the fatal police shooting in Charlotte, N.C., and the violent protests that have followed it. In one case, a prominent player also called for the release of the video of Keith Lamont Scott's deadly encounter with police.
Said Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis as he asked for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to release the video: "When you're looking at a video, you can see it plain as day. That clears a lot of things up for a lot of people. And that's what a lot of people are struggling with right now, the fact that you have ... conflicting stories."
Continued Davis: "It's to a point now where people are feeling like they can't trust the police and it shouldn't be that way. ... One to regain that trust is to release the video."
Panthers tight end Greg Olsen pulled his children out of school early Thursday in the SouthPark area when he caught wind of a potential protest there.
Said Olsen: "I called my wife and said, 'Just go get the kids. Pull them out.' ... You don't know what's going to happen. ... What if things spiral out of control like last night? This affects everybody."
Olsen also said there had to be a "common ground" that must be found between protesters and police so that the current state of "chaos" could be calmed down.
Or, as fullback Mike Tolbert said about the situation in general: "It's a damn shame."
Panthers safety Tre Boston said he was considering a peaceful protest of his own of some sort on Sunday when Carolina hosts the Minnesota Vikings in Charlotte. The game is still on schedule despite Gov. Pat McCrory declaring the area to be under a state of emergency.
Boston said he wasn't sure if he would kneel during the national anthem like San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been doing or do something else. Boston said he also had thought seriously about going uptown and joining the protests over Scott's death Wednesday night, but had reconsidered when he saw reporters injured while doing their jobs.
"If I'm out there peacefully just like that reporter, next thing you know I'm Maced," Boston said. "Now I've got to come to practice. Maybe my face is burning, my eyes are burning. ... But I definitely want to do something about it."
