The events over the past few weeks in response to the death of George Floyd has sent a shockwave throughout the country. Players around the NFL expressed their feelings and showed support for Black Lives Matter in an emotional video message. Most notably featured in the video is Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who refused to remain silent on the national issue.
Mahomes spoke Wednesday with reporters regarding his stance on the country’s racial issues and the importance of using his status in the league to draw more attention.
“I wanted to sit back and listen. I didn’t want to act off anger,” said Mahones, “I didn’t want to act off hurt. I wanted to listen and make the best-informed decision that I think I could to help the world, help the community with my platform.”
Mahomes is entering his fourth NFL season has seen a significant amount of success early in his career. The polarizing 24-year-old was motivated by the viral images exposing police brutality around the country.
“I always reference back to it in a lot of different situations and I’ve talked about it today, but I never had a talk that some people have had with their dads or their parents about being black and the inequalities that you could possibly have.” Mahomes said “I was blessed to be in a smaller hometown where everybody kind of knew who I was, and I was never put in a situation where I felt like I was not getting the same privileges as someone else. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned about it through having a black side of my family, and I’ve seen how they feel about it and I’ve talked to people that are on that side of the family. And I’ve also talked to people on my mom’s side of the family and I feel like I have a great perspective of how people feel and how the black community feels, how they don’t feel they get the same rights or value in some situations. My job I feel, having my platform, is to do whatever I can to just bring those feelings to light and let the rest of the world understand how people feel so that we can be a better community and a better world together.”
Positive role models throughout Mahomes’ upbringing inspired him. He listed his godfather and former Major League Baseball pitcher LaTroy Hawkins as someone that he listened to before making his decision to act.
“I know I have this platform,” Mahomes said. “I know not everyone will agree with it. But I’m going to do my best to make this world a better place, and this is the right moment to do it.”
Mahomes is fresh off a Super Bowl MVP performance in February and has come to the forefront of the NFL to promote positive changes in the community and beyond. His decision against sticking to sports and becoming socially involved will say more about his legacy than anything done on the football field.
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