While there won’t be any fans in the stands on Sunday at Bills Stadium when the New York Jets visit Orchard Park, plenty of eyeballs will still be on the field via television. Because of that, according to offensive lineman Dion Dawkins, some Buffalo players will be taking part in some form of social justice demonstrations, most likely prior to kickoff.
During a video conference on Friday, Dawkins said he plans to participate in such a showing. ESPN, relaying that message from him, reports Dawkins said he “won’t be alone” in doing so. Dawkins didn’t mention names of any other teammates that plan to participate and also did not specifically mention what he plans on doing.
Dawkins explained that’s because he feels there’s a fine line, of sorts. He doesn’t want it to come off that it’s just about him, rather, it’s about a much larger issue in the fabric of society.
“It’s definitely difficult… because you want to let your presence be felt but you also don’t want to make a big distraction,” Dawkins said.
On Thursday, the Chiefs and Texans opened the NFL season and both teams came together to show a sign of unity. Fans won’t be in the seats in Orchard Park, but the limited ones in Kansas City actually boo’d during it:
Booing. Wow. Disappointing, but not surprising. pic.twitter.com/WnOMIHoJyL
— Breland Moore (@BrelandKCTV5) September 11, 2020
Prior to Dawkins chatting on Friday, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said via video conference there presently was no “team-wide” type of plan in place in regard to the type of demonstration the Chiefs and Texans did on Thursday. But via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques on Twitter, we’ve got a bit of insight into a few other players who might join Dawkins.
Both defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson and cornerback Levi Wallace plan on wearing name plates of Black Americans unjustly killed in recent years. Here’s both of those:
Jefferson:
Bills DL Quinton Jefferson will have Antwon Rose, Jr.’s name on his helmet Sunday. Rose was 17 and unarmed when he was shot and killed by a police officer in Jefferson’s hometown of Pittsburgh in 2018 as he fled on foot from a traffic stop pic.twitter.com/8rKhpB8iSL
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) September 10, 2020
Wallace:
Bills CB Levi Wallace will wear Ahmaud Arbery’s name on his helmet Sunday.
Arbery was chased down and killed while he was jogging near his neighborhood in February by a former Georgia police officer and his son. No arrests were made until May, when video of the murder surfaced pic.twitter.com/83jdvm8Dmm
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) September 11, 2020
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