Goff and Woods helping lead Rams’ charge against racial injustice

Jared Goff and Robert Woods are leaders in the Rams locker room, both on and off the field.

The Rams may not be playing games yet like other professional sports leagues, but that doesn’t mean they’re standing idly by as players across the NBA and MLB protest against racial injustice. Just in the last two nights, a number of games have been postponed as players have decided to take a stand in wake of the shootings that took place in Kenosha, Wis., recently – the first of which being of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police.

The Rams practiced as scheduled Thursday as some other teams postponed their camp sessions, but it wasn’t a day without reflection, planning and discussion. Coach Sean McVay even stopped practice at one point as he gathered his players together for a moment of discussion without the “Hard Knocks” cameras lurking.

After practice, McVay explained why he brought the team together after the early part of practice in an attempt to keep the lines of communication open, as usual.

“That was really just with everybody on the field because we had special teams in the beginning. So, it’s the first time we could bring everybody up,” McVay said. “I had a good meeting with a lot of our players this morning about all of the things that are going on in our country. Want to make sure that we’re always opening up the lines of communication, not just transmitting information. We’ll keep the specifics in house, but it’s always about being able to connect with our guys, make sure we understand their perspectives and really be able to figure out a way to put some tangible things in place to try and move the needle in the right direction. There’s been a lot of conversations and now we’re trying to figure out solutions about how we can take actions in being able to do that. That’s what we’re working through as an organization collectively.”

At the forefront of the Rams’ social justice planning and movement are Jared Goff and Robert Woods, among others such as Sebastian Joseph-Day and McVay, himself. Both Goff and Woods help sessions with the media on Thursday and neither held back their feelings about how senseless and upsetting the shooting of Blake was.

“Well, of course when you first see the video – it’s disgusting. You’re horrified by it. I think you know, obviously, as a person that is not experiencing these injustices every day, I do my best every day to work on being a better listener, a better ally, and a better teammate and speak up when I see things that are not right and see things that are wrong. And at the same time, I’ve said it again, is taking action. Doing something,” Goff said. “Personally, I have some things in the works that I’m doing that I hope to effect change. I think as a team, coming together over stuff like this and really putting in a plan of action and giving my role as a leader on this team and being my best as a leadership in that division that has nothing to do with football. But, doing my best and listening to the guys and hearing what they want with a situation that really doesn’t affect me directly, but is affecting my brothers and people that I love directly. So, it’s important.”

Goff said earlier this summer after the tragic death of George Floyd that he feels it’s important for him as a white quarterback to speak up and make his voice heard. He’s supporting his teammates in this fight against social injustice, but he’s also trying to make himself a leader in the cause and put himself at the forefront.

“I do feel more of a responsibility to be out spoken, to not sit back because forever white people have sat back, for the most part, and just allowed it to happen or kind of turned a blind eye,” Goff said. “As a leader of a team, as a leader of a community, as a leader of, you know, arguably a city, you want to be saying the right thing and doing the right thing and this is important to me. It’s something that is never going to stop, you always want to be fighting, you always want to be moving in the right direction.”

One of the factors in this fight that Woods has been pushing is encouraging everyone to exercise their rights to vote in the election later this fall. Creating change from the top down is something Woods and other Rams players want to see, and he believes going out and voting in November will help get that done.

“You’ve got to be able to vote,” Woods said. “It’s so political now, this game, first you get into it, you want to stay away from race, politics and religion. But now, that’s all that we’re talking about. You’ve got to be involved. It’s not just speaking, it’s actually changing, changing laws, getting things implemented. You see what happened with Breonna Taylor – the cops, I feel like they’re murders and they’re still out on the street. Change needs to happen. It comes down to laws and policies that are allowing these people to still be free. I think if we actually vote and make these changes, get these things implemented, I think justice will be served; people will be held accountable. The punishment will be a lot more serious and a lot more people will be thinking about their actions and being able to do correct and do right.”

McVay said everyone “was on board to practice” Thursday rather than canceling it and dedicating the day to the current off-field issues. The Rams had a meeting about it Wednesday and discussed it Thursday morning, so conversations have been taking place.

Woods likes what the other sports leagues are doing by boycotting games and opting to sit them out, taking a stand and making their voices heard. He was fine with practicing, too, saying that he didn’t want to cancel practice just to cancel it. He wanted to make sure the team had a plan to use its time wisely, and for players to use their platforms to make their voices heard.

“Everybody has been aware; I’ve been saying that. Now, I feel like it’s just trying to actually affect people,” he said. “I think NBA, WNBA, Major League Baseball, they’re affecting people’s pockets, where it hurts. Right now, we’re still in training. Right now, we’re just trying to use our voices, use our platform to actually affect change. Like I said, everybody is aware and now it’s time to action. You see what the NBA is doing, they’re stopping what they’re doing just to go out and get in the field. That was kind of like my take on it – if we cancel practice, we need to take action – take a bus and go somewhere and get some changes done. Not just to cancel practice and have a moment of silence or just sit at home. I think it’s time to actually get involved, that’s what we were discussing this morning. We had a leadership meeting. Getting in some of our players’ pockets, going out and trying to change stuff in our actual community. Try to challenge teams around the whole league to just – it’s time to get involved. The politics are all ran by money. It’s time to encourage these politicians to make the right changes, the right laws and make these right adjustments.”

The Rams haven’t said whether they will hold any sort of protest or take any action when the season begins, but those discussions seem to be taking place.

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