In recent years, the New York Giants have offered their support for players who chose to kneel in protest during the national anthem, but have encouraged the team to stand.
It’s unclear if the team will again encourage players to stand in 2020, but if they don’t, there won’t be any push-back from first-year head coach Joe Judge.
During a series of interviews this week, which came as the Giants ended their virtual offseason program, Judge told reporters that he will support any players who opt to kneel during the national anthem this season.
“We’re going to be very receptive of our team, and we’re going to support our players,” Judge told NJ Advance Media. “We’ll involve the players, be in there as coaches. The owners have been involved and have been phenomenal in listening.”
Judge has participated in several recent team meetings in regard to racial injustice and police brutality in America — meetings which have also been attended by Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.
“For me to be the voice of the team, I have to really understand what collectively puts together our team,” Judge said. “I stress to my children at home the same thing, having these conversations and listening. Not listening defensively, not listening to respond, but to listen to comprehend.”
The decision to listen and comprehend comes after the death of George Floyd, an African American who died in Minneapolis police custody last month. His death has sparked massive protests and riots across the country.
“Honestly as a 38-year-old white guy, I don’t have all the answers on this,” Judge told the New York Post. “It’s important for me to just listen, and listen to our players.
“I talk enough. You find out a lot about people’s experiences that aren’t exactly the same as yours. You find out a lot about people’s emotions of things that they carry around and you want to make sure you support all the players. Make sure they understand you’re not just here for the X’s and O’s. That you’re here for them as a person, that you’re here for them as a player, that you’re here to help them be a better professional, a better family man.”
Ultimately, Judge said, he wants his team to not only support each other, but to support their communities and make positive changes.
“We want to make a lasting difference. We want to be very involved with our community and we’re going to work to support the players and give them the vehicle to do so. We’re going to be very involved as well as coaches. The owners have been phenomenal. We’ve had very open dialogue as a team,” Judge said. “It’s been very passionate, very enlightening. We have an opportunity to show 90 guys of different backgrounds working together towards a common goal of doing the right thing for each other, doing the right thing for communities and we can use our platform to do something positive.”
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