Tag: George Floyd

Vikings release statement after Derek Chauvin found guilty in murder of George Floyd

The Minnesota Vikings released a strong statement after the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd.

On Tuesday, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

That same day, the Vikings released a statement regarding the conviction:

“The past year following George Floyd’s death has been extremely painful for the Minnesota community, particularly for the State’s Black residents,” the team said in a statement. “While today’s decision does not minimize the anguish or solve the intolerable issues of racism and hate, we hope it can mark the beginning of community healing.”

The team went on to say in the statement that it wants to continue to be agents for positive, transformational and sustainable change. The NFL has also released a statement. You can read that statement here.

Vikings DT Michael Pierce had this to say:

Minnesota Vikings release statement after Derek Chauvin verdict

The Minnesota Vikings released a strong statement following the verdict announcement in the Derek Chauvin murder case on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was  convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd last Memorial Day. Chauvin was taken into custody, and will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

Just after the verdict was announced, the Minnesota Vikings released the following statement.

“The past year following George Floyd’s death has been extremely painful for the Minnesota community, particularly for the state’s Black residents. While today’s decision does not minimize the anguish or solve the intolerable issues of racism and hate, we hope it can mark the beginning of community healing.

“Now, more than ever, it is crucial to respectfully listen, communicate, and engage in order for us to move toward an equitable society. We must address the unacceptable continued violence and hate toward People of Color and commit to using our individual and collective voices to end the divisiveness and racial injustice.

“Our work is just beginning. Our commitment is unwavering. As an organization, we will build upon the foundation we have already established in the following critical areas: reducing socioeconomic disparities, implementing educational curriculum on Racism and Black history, and advocating for law enforcement and criminal justice reform. We will continue to be agents for positive, transformational, and sustainable change.”

In 2018, the Vikings organization established a Social Justice Committee, and expended those efforts after Floyd’s death. Last June, the team announced that Meredith “Mimi” Kol-Balfour was the first recipient of the George Floyd Legacy Scholarship. The Wilf family, owners of the team, have committed $5 million to organizations that work for social justice.

Kyrie Irving bought a house for George Floyd’s family, according to Stephen Jackson

Wow. This is incredible.

Kyrie Irving is one of the most polarizing figures in the NBA for a number of reasons. But one thing no one could ever say about the Nets point guard is that his heart is in the wrong place.

Irving has done so much good off of the court. Whether it’s covering salaries for WNBA players or buying meals for families who need them or donating food and masks to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe his mother is from.

He’s always doing some good and giving back to the community. We found out on Monday about some more good he did.

On Basketball News’ “The Rematch” podcast with Etan Thomas, Stephen Jackson talked about the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police. Jackson was a close family friend of Floyd’s.

During the podcast, Thomas asked Jackson how Floyd’s family was doing — particularly, his daughter. He then revealed that Irving bought George Floyd’s family a house after he was killed by police.

“I said I was going to continue to be my brother’s keeper and take care of his daughter and make sure her next days are her best days. And I have a lot of my friends, Kyrie Irving bought them a house, Lil Wayne’s manager bought them a Mercedez-Benz, Barbara Streisand bought them stock in Disney. So, I think God has definitely blessed her and right now she’s doing the best she’s ever done.” 

That’s an incredible thing to hear, man. What’s even more incredible is it seems Irving did this “five or six months ago,” according to reporting from ESPN’s Marc Spears.

Shouts to Irving and everyone else for continuing to uplift Floyd’s daughter the way that have. That’s just amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB0R2_F1W4s&feature=youtu.be

Stephen Jackson says Kyrie Irving bought George Floyd’s family a house

Kyrie Irving continues to go above and beyond off the court, most recently making a big purchase for the family of George Floyd.

As much of an impact as Kyrie Irving can make on the floor, Brooklyn’s point guard has shown time and time again that he can make an even bigger difference the court. Retired NBA forward Stephen Jackson shared the latest example of Irving’s generosity while discussing his late friend, George Floyd, on The Rematch with Etan Thomas.

“I’m just continuing to do what I said I was going to do. I said I was going to be my brother’s keeper and take care of his daughter, make sure that her next days are her best days,” Jackson said. “A lot of my friends [helped]. Kyrie Irving bought them a house. Lil Wayne’s manager bought them a Mercedes-Benz. Barbra Streisand gave them stock in Disney.”

Brooklyn’s point guard made major donations last year to varying causes, donating over a million dollars to help WNBA players who did not want to participate in their league’s restart, while also providing Feeding America with over $300,000 in relief.

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Derrick Henry’s suit pays tribute to Blacks killed by police

Derrick Henry of the Titans made a powerful statement with his suit Monday.

Derrick Henry made quite the political statement Sunday arriving at the airport in Denver as the Tennessee Titans got ready for their game against the Broncos on Monday night.

The Heisman winner from Alabama, who led the NFL in rushing in 2019, has a suit that spells out the names of Blacks killed by police in America.

Henry’s suit with honored the victims of racial injustice, including Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Tamir Rice, and others.

It is stunning, to say the least. Quite the powerful statement.

Bill Russell is pushing for more diversity in NCAA coaching, AD hires

Bill Russell is advocating for a national adoption of the “Russell rule,” requiring inclusion of minority candidates in NCAA athletic department job searches.

Bill Russell has been advocating for racial equity for over a half-century, and shows no signs of letting up as he pushes for a national implementation of the so-called “Russell Rule”.

This new policy was recently adopted by the West Coast Conference in order to promote diversity in college athletic department hirings.

It’s designed to require the inclusion of minority candidates in the hiring process of any openings for every “athletic director, senior administrator, head coach, and full-time assistant coach position” that opens in the conference, according to the Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler.

“I hope the West Coast Conference initiative encourages other leagues and schools across the country to make similar commitments,” Russell said in a statement to the Globe. “We need these intentional measures if we’re going to make real change for people of color in leadership positions in college athletics.”

In a sport where where the male athletes are more than 55% Black and a level of play where all NCAA athletes are 36% minority, the fact that — as the Globe reports — only one Athletic Director in 10 and nine head coaches out of a hundred are Black at very best some kind of change is clearly needed.

In New England the situation is even worse, with only 4.5 Athletic Directors per 100 are Black. Russell’s involvement in the push to institute the rule named in his honor was sparked by WCC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez.

The WCC Commissioner reached out to the ex-Celtic after proposing the new policy measure to her conference in the wake of the killing of George Floyd as a potential structural intervention to fight institutional racism.

Let’s hope the policy change brings the much-needed change it intends in the WCC — and more importantly, catches on in collegiate academics more generally.

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Watch: Ravens organization delivers powerful message to Sen. McConnell

The Baltimore Ravens have delivered a strong message to Sen. Mitch McConnell

The Baltimore Ravens have been at the forefront of the fight against racism and social injustice.

The team has put out another important statement as the battle continues. This time, it is in the form of a video urging Sen. Mitch McConnell to bring the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 to the Senate floor to a vote.

The Ravens published this statement on the ongoing issues last week.

Doug Pederson weighs-in on Carson Wentz’s maturation as the Eagles’ quarterback and leader

Doug Pederson says Carson Wentz has embraced being a leader for Eagles

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Carson Wentz returned to the Eagles this offseason a renewed man after having a daughter and finding his comfort zone as the face of one of the NFL’s gold standard franchises. The Eagles star quarterback put on some good weight this offseason and seems at peace with his status entering year five in the NFL.

During his Saturday morning Zoom meeting with the local media, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson was asked about Wentz as a leader this summer.

Pederson gave some insight into Wentz maturation with the Eagles while responding to a question from Nick Fierro of the Allentown Morning Call

“You know what, he’s really come in and really embraced this football team, embraced this opportunity, and really even embraced this opportunity with the social injustice, with bridging the gap between himself and his Black teammates, and that’s all part of being a leader, and he’s really done an outstanding job there. I see him at practice wrapping his arm around some of the young players and talking to them about football and probably other things. I’m not in those conversations but I do see him talking to those young players, and that’s so encouraging to me, to have your leader of your football team going into his fifth year, obviously, but embracing that and leading this football team like we all know he can.”

Wentz was one of the first quarterbacks in the NFL to speak out about the death of George Floyd, and he’s taken an integral role in the team’s leadership council as they work to educate each other and the masses on social justice issues.

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Baltimore Ravens make official statement with specific demands for social justice

The Baltimore Ravens have made one of the most specific statements of any sports team regarding the need for social justice.

In the wake of the George Floyd police killing and the police shooting of Jacob Blake, players teams are making all kinds of statements in every sport — from refusing to play games, to opting out of practices and scrimmages, to making specific statements on police brutality. But there have been few statements more specific than the one the Baltimore Ravens released on Thursday afternoon.

Per the team’s official website:

With yet another example of racial discrimination with the shooting of Jacob Blake, and the unlawful abuse of peaceful protesters, we MUST unify as a society. It is imperative that all people – regardless of race, religion, creed or belief – come together to say, ‘Enough is enough!’

This is bigger than sports. Racism is embedded in the fabric of our nation’s foundation and is a blemish on our country’s history. If we are to change course and make our world a better place, we must face this problem head-on and act now to enact positive change.

It is time to accept accountability and acknowledge the ramifications of slavery and racial injustice.

The Ravens then made the following demands for social justice, saying that “Though we cannot right all the wrongs of our country’s history, we can…”

  • Arrest and charge the police officers responsible for Breonna Taylor’s killing and the shooting of Jacob Blake.
  • Demand that Senator Mitch McConnell bring the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 to the Senate floor for vote.
  • End qualified immunity; require body cameras; ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants; hold police accountable in court; establish a framework to prohibit racial profiling at federal, state, and local levels
  • Support state- and federally-mandated CALEA Accreditation and national standards of care in policing.
  • Encourage everyone to engage in the political process by registering to vote on both the local and national level. (www.risetovote.turbovote.org.)
  • Demand prison sentencing reform that is fair and equitable.
  • Encourage every citizen to act with respect and compliance when engaging with the police. If you feel there has been an abuse of power, we encourage you to contact your police department’s internal affairs unit. (For Baltimore City, dial 410-396-2300.)

“We will use our platform to drive change now – not just for our generation, but for the generations that follow, for our sons and daughters and for their children,” the statement concluded.

Owner Steve Bisciotti and the team have donated $1 million to 28 different social justice programs in Baltimore, per the team’s official website. 

“We have a powerful platform – and a responsibility – to help eliminate injustices that are prevalent in our communities. For far too long, people of color have been underserved by a system that should protect, rather than harm,” Biscoitti said in an August 27 statement. “Our entire organization, including players past and present, is fully committed to creating social justice reform. We will continue to seek out opportunities that support, encourage and defend those who are most in need.”

Jags practice Thursday after delay, met beforehand to discuss ‘actionable change’ against racism

The Jags got off to a delay for Thursday’s practice, but ultimately decided to continue with plans for ‘actionable change’ against racism.

With many teams deciding to boycott on Thursday in wake of the police shooting of James Blake, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Thursday practice session was delayed. However, after meeting for hours the team decided to proceed with practice after the following statement was made by coach Doug Marrone.

Last night, the Milwaukee Bucks made a statement by boycotting their playoff game against the Orlando Magic to shed light on police brutality and other racially sensitive issues.

The team then released the following statement:

“Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we’ve seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot seven times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha, and the additional shooting of protestors. Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.”

The Bucks were the catalyst for the wider sports world to pause and stand in solidarity against systemic racism in the United States. Since their announcement Wednesday night, other NBA and WNBA games were boycotted. Additionally, the MLB, other NFL organizations, players from the professional Tennis realm, and others in the sports community have stated they will cancel or postpone some of their activities to use their platform to continue important discourse about racial injustices.

The Jaguars practice field was empty this morning, leading many to speculate that Jacksonville would join the likes of the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets and the Washington Football Team in cancelling today’s football activities. However, the team ultimately came to the decision to practice.

In the near future, the team will undoubtedly continue to express their solidarity with the sports community, which has dedicated a lot of effort towards civil rights for African Americans and other minorities. In fact, back in May they held a march following the tragedy of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of an Indianapolis policeman named Derek Chauvin and three other officers. Owner Shad Khan also released an essay addressing racism and stated that he’d continue to hold meetings with the Jags about approaches for change.