Tag: Steven Means

Falcons will honor civil rights icon John Lewis in Week 1

Atlanta announced it would be celebrating the life of John Lewis, the former Georgia congressman and civil rights icon, by making him an honorary captain in Week 1.

The Atlanta Falcons are focused on football but will not ignore the bigger social issues in our country when they take the field for their season-opening matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

On Friday, the team announced it would be celebrating the life of John Lewis, the former Georgia congressman and civil rights icon, by making him an honorary captain in Week 1.

The man once known as “the conscience of the Congress” by his peers passed away in July at the age of 80. Lewis’ role in the country passing the 1965 Voting Rights Act is as relevant today as ever.

Falcons defensive end Steven Means and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett were among the players to show support for Lewis on social media after the team announced him as its honorary captain.

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Falcons place DE Steven Means on reserve/COVID-19 list

The team announced defensive end Steven Means has been placed on the reserve and quarantined.

The Atlanta Falcons started training camp with several players on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list.

Since then, nobody else had been added until Saturday morning when the team announced defensive end Steven Means was placed on the reserve and quarantined.

Means. 29, should provide good depth and leadership at defensive end after missing 2019 with an Achilles injury. There is no official word on whether Means has COVID-19, as is league policy not to comment.

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Steven Means: Voting is the best way to create ‘long-term change’

It can be easy to forget that NFL athletes are humans just like the rest of us. So when big things happen in our country, it’s not fair to expect players to compartmentalize issues that we as a society are dealing with.

It can be easy to forget that NFL athletes are humans just like the rest of us. So when tragedies happen in our country, it’s not fair to expect players to compartmentalize issues that we as a society deal with together.

As more controversial deaths of Black individuals at the hands of the police happen around the country, things have reached a boiling point over the past few days. The Detroit Lions cancelled practice and then the NBA canceled Wednesday night’s slate of playoff games.

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and owner Arthur Blank have been among the most supportive of their players having the right to protest. Defensive end Steven Means attested to this, and gave a thoughtful look into the challenge of not letting emotions take over after each tragedy.

Courtesy of the team’s Twitter account, you can view Means’ full statement on staying focused on voting in order to create long-term change.

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