Former 49er adds voice to protests: ‘We have to speak up, because our voices are loud’
Ian Williams’ NFL career ended with a painful ankle injury he might feel for the rest of his life. But being a professional athlete also elevated his platform to help speak out, even if it means hobbling around San Jose streets on that bum ankle.
It started last Friday evening, May 29, when Williams was watching the news with his three kids at his South Bay home before he realized it was time to help. A police officer got punched and the relationship between protesters and authorities was starting to get out of hand.
“Let me just throw on some clothes and go down there as fast as I can and support the cause and try to keep it as peaceful as I can,” the former 49ers defensive lineman told The Bee. “Maybe my word, maybe me being out there, might help might save a cop or somebody else from getting injured.” ——— Williams, 30, spent the last week protesting police brutality and racism in San Jose in light of demonstrations across the country, and the world, following the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
“When I initially got down there, it was already kind of bad,” Williams said of the Friday protest. “They were shooting tear gas and smoke bombs at people. Eventually, I got to an area where it was kind of calm. I went up and down the police line with (Colin Kaepernick’s) jersey. Then, eventually, probably 20 or 30 minutes into the protest of me being there, there were (random people) that just came out of nowhere and they would throw rocks and water at the officers.”
That’s when police began putting up their shields, shooting rubber bullets into the crowd and using flash bombs. The scene was hectic and scary, even for Williams, who spent five years in the NFL trenches taking on 300pound offensive linemen after a successful career at Notre Dame.
“I was trying to yell to tell people to stop, don’t throw anything, don’t throw anything,” Williams said. “The cops, obviously, they weren’t listening, so they just started shooting stuff all over the place.
“A couple of flash bombs, they exploded probably a few feet away from me. My ears started ringing. That’s when the survival instinct kicked in. ‘I got to get the hell up outta here.’”
Williams lost the jersey of his former teammate, Kaepernick. Of course, it was Kaepernick who began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016, Williams’ final year on the 49ers’ roster. Kaepernick’s kneeling stance has been adopted by protesters, police and elected officials in the last two weeks as a sign of peaceful protest.
In San Jose, as the crowd dispersed, and some started vandalizing and looting on South First Street, across from Cesar Chavez Park, the crowd moved away from the initial police line.
“I saw one of the kids trying to grab an Uber scooter to break one of the windows,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘No man, that’s not what we’re here for.’ He asked me why.
“’Bro, we’re not here to vandalize. We’re just here to be heard and let them know that we can be civil and still get our point across,’” Williams said. ———
The point, of course, has remained the same for years. Discrimination against African Americans and other minorities has been an institutionalized problem in the United States for generations.
But it appears the attitude toward people of color fighting for equality is changing as a result of the killings and the resulting protests.
Prominent white voices have spoken up for the cause, including 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who didn’t mince his words when asked about racial inequalities during a video conference call Thursday.
“I think white people are listening more than I’ve ever heard before, which is good. And that’s a starting point,” Shanahan said. “Because it’s happened too long. It’s very clear, and I don’t want to debate it anymore. No one does. Open your eyes.”
Saints quarterback Drew Brees became another example of the shifting landscape. Brees, a likely Hall of Famer renowned for his community work, including a recent $5 million donation to Louisiana to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, apologized on Instagram twice Thursday after saying earlier in the week he believed taking a knee during the national anthem disrespected the flag.
Brees was panned far and wide for his remarks that used to be considered boilerplate when Kaepernick began his protest in 2016. Brees that season said he “wholeheartedly disagreed” with Kaepernick’s protest, though it didn’t receive nearly the level of backlash as it did this week causing him to walk back his statements with separate Instagram posts.
Brees wrote: “They lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy” and Friday penned a letter to President Trump after Trump tweeted he wished Brees didn’t apologize.
“We as a white community need to listen and learn from the pain and suffering of our black communities,” Brees wrote to the president. “We must acknowledge the problems, identify the solutions, and then put this into action. The black community cannot do it alone. This will require all of us.”
The NFL also vocalized its support of the protests.
The league Friday released a video on its official Twitter account of commissioner Roger Goodell, a long-time adversary of players who fought against social injustice. He said he would protest with players against police brutality and, “We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter,” after being largely dismissive of Kaepernick’s protest. The league settled Kaepernick’s collusion grievance in 2019 after he was effectively shut out of the league as a free agent.
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Many opposing the protests have been critical of looting, vandalism, rioting and attacking police officers, which was among the reasons Williams became involved in the protests.
“They want civil unrest and they want to stir up trouble and they want to get out their emotions that maybe a cop roughed them up,” Williams said. “(But) don’t come over here when we’re trying to be productive and you be counterproductive.”
A sentiment that’s long bothered athletes has been that fans don’t want to hear from them about social issues. But Williams and others argue it’s imperative athletes voice their opinions because they have a platform and influence.
Williams, who brought up the names of police brutality victims Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor, also said being an athlete has helped during interactions with police long before the protests, while other people of color might not have received the same treatment.
“At this time, athletes are at the top, at the forefront of black culture for the community,” Williams said. “And that’s why we have to speak up, because our voices are loud.”