Bouldin retires, says he will help in fight for equality in U.S.
Anquan Boldin didn’t decide overnight he was going to quit football in order to speak out against longstanding concerns over inequality in America.
The recent deadly and racially charged conflict in Charlottesville, Virginia, did, however, become the tipping point that caused Boldin to reassess his priorities and led to the Buffalo Bills receiver’s decision to retire after 14 NFL seasons.
“I think anybody with any sense can see how divided we are as a country, and Charlottesville only magnified what we were already seeing,” Boldin told The Associated Press by phone Monday.
He was disturbed by the hateful messages directed at African-Americans, Jewish people and the LGBT community during a rally involving neo-Nazis and other right-wing groups in which a counter-protester was killed and two Virginia state police officers died on Aug. 13.
“That’s not the America that I want to live in,” he said. “And I think the only way that this America changes is that we as a people stand up and change it.”
Boldin spoke a day after abruptly informing the Bills he was retiring some two weeks after signing a one-year contract with a base salary of $1.75 million.
The NFL’s 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year, Boldin is no stranger to activism and humanitarian causes. He oversees the South Florida-based Q81 Foundation, which offers educational support for underprivileged children. He has lobbied for criminal justice reform at the state and federal levels since his cousin was killed by a plain-clothes police officer along the side of a Florida highway in October 2015.
Difficult as it was to walk away from football, Boldin felt he could no longer stand silent on the sideline.
“There’s not enough money in this world for me to continue to allow the things that are going on to continue to spread,” the 36-yearold father of two boys said. “I will not feel safe leaving this earth and having my kids have to live in the America that we have today.” Boldin then challenged NFL owners and executives to use their clout to demand change and back many of their players who are already doing so by protesting during the anthem.
NJ, CONNECTICUT ADVANCE
The team from Jackson, N.J., scored nine runs in the third inning of a game that was delayed by rain for 76 minutes and beat Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., 12-9, to advance in the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa.
Jackson will play the team from Fairfield, Conn., in a loser’s bracket semifinal on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in a rematch of a game Fairfield won in the opening round.
Fairfield beat Walla Walla, Wash., 14-6, on Monday night to advance.
Jackson had 16 hits in its win, including three home runs — a pair by R.J. Vashey and another by Charlie Meglio.
RUTGERS PICKS QB
Kyle Bolin has won the starting quarterback job at Rutgers. Bolin beat out redshirt junior Giovanni Rescigno and freshman Johnathan Lewis.
Rescigno started the final five games for Rutgers last season, completing 86 of 153 passes for 889 yards and five touchdowns.