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So you call yourself a Giants fan. But will you still root for your team if Saquon Barkley kneels for the national anthem this fall?
You call yourself a Giants fan. But will you still root for your team if Barkley, the face of your franchise, is one of the loudest NFL voices in the name of racial injustice, police brutality and George Floyd, following in the example of Colin Kaepernick?
Giants co-owner John Mara famously told MMQB of Kaepernick’s kneeling in May 2017 that in “all my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue. ‘If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game.’ It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot.”
But I’ve got bad news for the fans who continue to conflate a peaceful protest with disrespect of the flag or the military: I guess you’re not going to be coming to any more games.
Not because we know what Barkley and other Giants will do when the anthem plays, but because the tide of social awareness seems to have shifted. And if you haven’t noticed, Barkley stands firmly on the side of those advocating for social justice, equality and change. And he isn’t afraid to say it or stand up for it.
In case you forgot, he always has supported Kaepernick. Last year, he told the Daily News Kaepernick is “not in the league not ’cause he can’t play,” and he said he didn’t care if his support turned fans off.
“If a fan wants to not be a fan of me because I retweet a thing for Colin Kaepernick, I don’t care,” he said. “But I respect that people have their own opinions. Everyone is entitled to that. I just would hope that people respect I have a right to my own opinion, as well.”
Now, while the Giants’ organiza“son tion, coaches and players continue to have internal discussions about actions they can take as a group to create change and awareness, Barkley has not waited to speak out in the wake of Floyd’s death.
First, Barkley reposted graphic designer @thekylecyr’s Instagram mock-up of Barkley photoshopped into an all-black uniform with “I CAN’T BREATHE” and a fist on the jersey and his No. 26 on the helmet.
A day later, Barkley urged society to continue battling racism and oppression long after the current protests subside.
“The protests are amazing and inspiring,” Barkley wrote. “But please in 2 or 3 weeks when the protest are no longer happening. We still need change, we need to come together as a community and we need action! Racism and injustice can not exist!”
A day after that, Barkley and Giants receiver Sterling Shepard joined several other NFL players in releasing a powerful video that challenged the league to ask if it would take one of the NFL’s own players being murdered by police for the league to listen.
In May 2018, when the NFL’s owners created a short-lived national anthem policy requiring players and staff to stand, Mara told SiriusXM NFL Radio: “I think certainly we hope that our players stand for the (anthem) this year. I think it’s the right thing to do. We’ve been supportive of those in the past who have decided to protest, but I think we’ve gotten to a point now where it’s become such a divisive issue that I think it’s important that we come out of here with a policy that everybody can respect and adhere to.”
That fall, when President Trump said any protesting NFL player was a of a bitch” who should be fired,” co-owners Mara and Steve Tisch released a statement that read:
“Comments like we heard last night from the president are inappropriate, offensive and divisive. We are proud of our players, the vast majority of whom use their NFL platform to make a positive difference in our society.”
Three Giants knelt for the anthem in that week’s game at Philadelphia: Olivier Vernon, Landon Collins and Damon Harrison. Mara and Tisch were not on the sideline with the team for the anthem, while Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was at the 50yard line with his players.
The Giants’ co-owners released a post-game statement that said: “We are thankful and respect that we live in a country where an individual has the right to make a choice in how they recognize the anthem.”
Only Vernon continued kneeling that season. He, Collins and Harrison are no longer on the team. No Giants player has knelt since.
Barkley is not the only Giants player who appears determined to use his platform to create change and has expressed hurt and anger recently.
Shepard was right there alongside him in the video, which also included their friend and former teammate, Odell Beckham Jr.
Tuesday, Giants safety Jabrill Peppers shared a political cartoon posted by Instagram user @xkevlar of a split image: Trump scolding a kneeling Kaepernick on one side, and Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao watching officer Derek Chauvin kneel on Floyd’s neck.
These are the Giants’ voices. This is your team, with Barkley as the face. So it’s certainly possible some Giants will kneel. And if there are fans who continue to miss the point of the protests even after everything that has happened, then those fans are going to have to pick a new team.