Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Jenkins hit by ‘surprise’ split by Reid from players coalition
PHILADELPHIA » Eagles veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins woke up to a cold slap in the face in the form of a terse statement tweeted by a colleague he’d argued with the previous night.
Jenkins and Anquan Boldin, heading the coalition of NFL players to affect social change largely in disadvantaged communities, basically were ambushed Wednesday morning in that statement. Dolphins safety Michael Thomas and 49ers safety Eric Reid used it to say they were withdrawing from the coalition because of differences with the leadership.
“The Players Coalition was supposed to be formed as a group that represents NFL Athletes who have been silently protesting social injustices and racism,” the statement read. “However, Malcolm and Anquan can no longer speak on our behalf as we don’t believe the coalition’s beliefs are in our best interests as a whole.”
There were insinuations in an ESPN report that Jenkins and Boldin haven’t been transparent, which Jenkins said is puzzling because he tries to double-check information with the leadership. Jenkins also was disappointed that Reid, during their conversation Tuesday, made no mention of severing ties before going public.
“It was one of those things where we were discussing some of the details of what the league has kind of proposed,” Jenkins said. “I wanted some input. Really that was the biggest thing. I was asking for some input before I responded to some of the questions that the league had from us, so, yeah, it did catch me by a little bit by surprise this morning.”
A fractionalized players coalition could be a big problem. The NFL wants to allocate $100 million to the players for use in community programs, according to ESPN. Though the allocation won’t technically include a clause banning national anthem demonstrations, it’s entirely possible the league and the players will have some sort of gentlemen’s agreement effectively ending the individual protests scorned by President Donald Trump, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and a chunk of the American public.
Players were supposed to discuss the league’s offer via conference call Wednesday night. The owners would have to vote on it at the league meetings in March.
Jenkins is left to wonder if Reid has teamed up with former Niners teammate Colin Kaepernick, who began the anthem demonstrations but hasn’t been active in the coalition talks. Kaepernick hasn’t been able to land a job playing quarterback with an NFL team.
“I’m not sure whether Kaepernick wants to be involved,” Jenkins said. “For me, the biggest thing is I saw an opportunity to create a group of players that could use their voices together to really make some change, and we still really have that opportunity. We’ve been able to go from protests to now speaking with ownership about creating something that has never been in place before. We’re proud of that and we’ll continue to meet with whoever wants to be in that conversation and wants to be a part of that solution.”
Eagles receiver Torrey Smith, who knows Reid and Thomas, doesn’t appreciate the very public display of the former.
“I think it could have been handled a little bit differently,” Smith said. “I think it’s perfectly fine for guys to have different opinions on how things should work. But I don’t see anything wrong with the way Malcolm has been approaching everything, even communication-wise, which is one of the biggest issues.
“I say that with all due respect to Eric and Mike. They’re like my brothers. They have very strong opinions about certain things. With any group in general when you’re starting brand new, there’s going to be opposition. People are going to have strong opinions. You kind of try to go with the majority rules. And unfortunately, they kind of felt left out in a lot of ways.”
Smith said Jenkins “has worked his tail off” to position the players to impact social change. Smith also praised Reid, Thomas and Kaepernick.
Eagles defensive end Chris Long, who donated his $1 million base salary to educational charities, doesn’t understand why Reid and Thomas thought the public separation would advance the goals they’re seeking.
“I’ve been on all the conference calls and group chats,” Long said. “And I can say very confidently that Malcolm has been very transparent, and those guys were all but on the board for the coalition that hasn’t been formed yet, really. We’re still structuring it. So, listen, I wish them the best. I think they’re going to get a lot of great stuff done. There’s no reason why Malcolm and the coalition can’t get a lot of great stuff done. But at the same time, I would say I disagree — I think Malcolm’s been very transparent. And I respectfully think he’s done a really good job.”
Jenkins suspects his transparency has been questioned partly because of a personality clash.
“As players, you’ve got a lot of Type A personalities, a lot of alpha males in the group that feel passionate about one thing,” Jenkins said. “It’s often hard to get everyone to agree on one thing. But I think we’ve created dialog amongst players that has been productive, that have been inclusive. We’ve been able to air out our desires, our opinions. We’ll try to formulate those into a singular plan. To kind of have it pushed out into the media was probably the most disappointing thing. We can all call each other up and express our disappointment. But to hear it from the media was a little disappointing.”
Jenkins doesn’t believe the leadership shakeup will jeopardize the NFL’s desire to support the players’ initiative. Asked if the players would stop protesting when the NFL’s $100 million offer is firmly on the table, Jenkins hedged.
“Those conversations are continuing to be had,” Jenkins said. “I think we’re close to forming a partnership that we feel like can amplify the voices of the players. This whole protest to me has been to draw awareness. If the league is proposing something out there that can replace that or amplify that voice, then I see no need in continuing the protests. But those conversations are still being had.”