What should be stunning isn’t in these times. Brandon Marshall was moving into his new home in Weston, FL, and someone called the police on the ex-NFL wide receiver and his family.
It is easy to understand why Marshall was so upset.
“This is the problem: I come here, you feel uncomfortable,” the 13-year NFL vet says in the video.
“My first day moving into my new house because my name is not on the list, you call the cops. Now you call the cops,” Marshall is heard saying in the video.
“I was so disappointed in myself for getting so emotional with my kids in the car BUT then I realized that being numb isn’t an option anymore. #vote”
Marshall spoke with 7News about the incident on Thursday.
“The reality is, people fear our skin. That’s the reality,” he said. “Like, just moved into a new house, and all I asked the guy was to call the front desk, ’cause literally just got our keys.”
But when police were called as he tried to enter his neighborhood, coupled with the racial justice movement happening across the country, Marshall, who is opening a second gym in Weston, said he started to see much more than a gym taking shape.
“We need to use our facilities to have these conversations,” he said. “Yeah, let’s work out, but at the same time, let’s also check in with each other and ask the question, ‘How are we doing?’”
He felt the pull again when NBA players refused to take the court Wednesday in protest of the Jacob Blake shooting.
“It’s not our jobs to hold the police, the bad apples, the bad police accountable,” he said. “There’s literally people who get paid to do that, but it is on the athlete to be responsible with their platform, and I think that’s what we’re seeing with the NBA.”