Of unity by locking arms with Gang
Davis said. “It’s the UNITED States of America. … We’re not saying that we have the answers to the problems in our country. All we’re saying is that whatever the answer is, whatever the solution is, we got to find it together. You’re not going to help anything by being divided. It’s going to take a united front.”
So, Christopher Johnson asked the players before kickoff if he could be a part of that united front. Every player said yes. They stood together as the American flag unfurled in front of them. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross did the same across the field.
“It meant everything,” Josh McCown said of standing next to Johnson. “That was over my career one of the more special things. No matter who you are, when you’re at the top and you’re willing to stand with your guys… There’s nothing that reflects better leadership than that. When you say, ‘I’m with you guys. We’re together on this.’”
“No matter who you are and no matter what your skin color is, that you can humble yourself and stand beside people that maybe you don’t stand beside,” the quarterback continued. “That’s my prayer. All the time. That that’s what happens with our country moving forward. I’m so thankful for him and the example that he set.”
McCown was to Johnson’s right. Jamal Adams was to his left. It was a perfect symbol for the day. “It just shows how much he cares about this team,” Adams said. “For him to come up to everybody before the game one-by-one and ask if he could, I was all for it. I walked up to him and said, ‘I’m going to stand right next you.’”
The NFL world couldn’t simply “stick to sports” after the Commander-in-Chief’s insulting remarks.
“For us as players and community leaders, you can’t just turn a blind eye to it,” McCown said. “It’s easy to say, ‘I’m going to get in this box and this is my job and that’s it.’ At the same time, you have an opportunity to step up and come together and show people that you’re together. Hopefully be able to create conversations that will be able to bear fruit to push us towards unity. That’s the goal.”
Johnson admitted that he was “disappointed” by Trump’s words before praising his team’s decision to come together. What if one of the Jets players decided to kneel during the anthem?
“That’s up to them,” Johnson said. “I’d want to talk with them about it, because I understand. But I’m glad that everybody stood and we were together.” he moment was pure and forced all of us to confront issues that went far beyond the Jets’ first win of the season. From Johnson to McCown and everyone in between, the Jets handled all of it with class and dignity.
The quarterback spoke to teammates in the middle of the winning locker room with a message about Johnson sure to resonate.
“People don’t follow titles. They follow courage,” McCown told everyone. “In the face of all this stuff, he stepped up with us no matter who he was to stand with us. That’s a cool thing.”
So is unity.
T