On Friday, Detroit Lions safety Duron Harmon joined local media via a virtual press conference, where he shared his thoughts and experiences with racism and social injustice.
For nearly 30-minutes Harmon spoke open and honestly about his experiences with racism, the current events happening across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests.
He acknowledged that now was an appropriate time to take a break from football and credited coach Matt Patricia for allowing the team to voice their frustrations in team meetings.
Harmon called Floyd’s death “heartbreaking” and how it was easy to picture himself, father, cousins, or sons in the exact same scenario. He would go on to share several of his first-hand accounts of racism, including both interactions with police and during typical everyday life activities.
Additionally, Harmon discussed how the death of Ahmaud Arbery (Lions safety Tracy Walker’s cousin) hit the team on a different level, as well as how challenging it was to explain what was happening in the world to his eight-year-old son.
Harmon would go on to discuss the importance of “being a part of something bigger”, using his platform to bring injustices to light, and why it’s important to “allocate time” and resources to these topics moving forward.
You can view the entire press conference in the video below. Please watch. Please listen.