HOPEFUL PENNY
Giants fullback encouraged by what he saw during Black Lives Matter protest
Giants fullback Eli Penny led a peaceful protest in the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, racial injustice, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement on Tuesday through the streets of Norwalk, Calif., where the Los Angeles native Penny played high school football.
And Penny, 26, said what gave him hope amid these painful last few weeks was seeing so many people from different backgrounds joining the fight for change.
“The protest gave me a different outlook on a lot. What made me proud was seeing other ethnicities stand- ing up for black people,” Penny told the Daily News on the phone on Saturday. “Being from L.A., never in my lifetime have I seen the brown community, Latinos, join forces with us like that. I saw people from high school that I never thought would protest for black people join us. That creates hope that we can all put our minds together, do the right, and work together.”
Penny comes from the kind of neighborhood where calling the police wasn’t always viewed as a way to keep people safe. But he wants to raise awareness and use his platform in a positive way to bridge divides.
So when a friend reached out and asked for help with the peaceful protest in Norwalk, Penny told her he would love to help. And he didn’t just help.
“Somehow I ended up leading it,” he said. “But I feel like for our city, nobody can rep that city more than me and my family.”
The protest started at Norwalk’s City Hall, with introductions and guest speakers encouraging citizens to “create change,” to “attend city council meetings” and to “vote local.” Penny’s brother, Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny, was there at the start. He didn’t march only because he’s rehabbing from a torn ACL.
But then Eli took the lead. “At first everyone was on the curb, and I was like, ‘In what kind of protest does everyone stay on the curb?’” he said. “So I told everybody to get off the curb and get in the street. You’re not gonna get attention if you stay on the curb. I told everybody to get in the streets. You’ve gotta be heard to protest and gain attention.”
Penny said the protest marched to every big street in the city. They even knelt in the middle of a large intersection and took a moment of silence for Floyd.
Penny said he and the protesters were unfortunately greeted by plenty of antagonizers and some obvious Trump supporters who were cursing at the protesters, flipping the middle finger and asking for trouble.
But Penny said he reminded his fellow protesters to remain peaceful and to not take the bait. He said he never felt like he was in danger, and there was — eerily — no police presence at all.
“Now they see what (Colin) Kaepernick was fighting for four years ago,” Penny told NBC4 News. “And to see that we’re still fighting the same fight now is huge. And I feel like the rest of the world, everybody is taking notice of what’s going on, because it just keeps on happening and happening and happening. It’s not stopping.”
The Giants’ virtual offseason program for veterans concluded on Friday, but for the past couple weeks, Penny said the team has taken about 20-30 minutes out of each day to speak about the ongoing racial injustice and the protests and a plan for action on the part of the team. They also had a larger team meeting on these same subjects on June 5.
Penny took last Tuesday’s action on his own, but he said the Giants decided as a team how they intend to take action.
“The things we talked about as a team to create change are exactly what I’ve been talking about: voting local, going to city council meetings,” he said. “And it’s about getting to kids where all the minorities are, and getting the police and kids together so police understand who these kids are. You can’t label them because where they come from.
Penny said the Giants want to get involved in community outreach to connect youth and law enforcement to “help them to a better understanding of each other.”
“You shouldn’t be judging someone because of the color of their skin,” he said. “We want to get them together so there is less unarmed killing.”
Penny and his brother, Rashaad, are also constantly trying to make a difference locally with the Two Cents Family Foundation.
JONES CONTINUES TO LEAD
Sources confirm Giants QB Daniel Jones organized a passing camp the past couple weeks in Austin, Texas, with teammates who included wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton and tight end Kaden
Smith. Backup QB Colt McCoy, a former University of Texas star, helped organize it, as well.
Jones promised more get-togethers through the spring after holding some early February workouts at Duke that also included Shepard and Slayton, among others. Jones has some weaknesses or shortcomings in game that need improvement, but leadership is not one of them.
SAY HIS NAME ON RECORD: COLIN KAEPERNICK
Excellent work by NFL.com columnist Judy Battista to get someone from the league to say Colin Kaepernick’s name in Thursday’s story on the NFL’s latest 10-year, $250 million commitment to “combat systemic racism and support the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced by AfricanAmericans.”
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without the work Colin and other players have led off,” a person familiar with the league’s fund told Battista. “That is a key point here. We listened to our players. We needed to listen more, we needed to move faster. We heard them and launched a social justice platform because of what Colin was protesting about. The players have always been an essential piece of this effort and this campaign. It would be awesome to engage Colin on some of the work we are doing. He’s doing real impactful work. Getting him in some way would be amazing for us. There’s a lot of work to do to get to that point. We’re certainly open and willing to do that.”
On the flip side, however, is it really that difficult for one of the NFL’s owners or commissioner Roger Goodell to go on record and say Kaepernick’s name, let alone apologize?
Why isn’t Goodell just saying this himself? Why isn’t Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones saying it?
Even if they are legally prevented from making certain admissions by the multi-million dollar collusion settlement they made with Kaepernick and safety Eric Reid, Goodell’s and the owners’ refusal to even say
Kaepernick's name makes any other statement of theirs appear insincere.
We've been at this juncture before: the NFL is fine with throwing some money ($781,250 per year, per team, for 10 years) at work in the community, but when it comes to actually addressing the real elephant in the room, suddenly everyone goes quiet.
PLEASE, PETE
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll's Thursday revelation that another team had contacted him about Kaepernick conveniently gets Carroll on the board to share some credit if and when he signs elsewhere. But sorry, Pete, that's not how this works: either sign him in Seattle or don't.
Carroll's excuse for not signing Kaepernick after a 2017 workout and visit was basically that Kaepernick was too good, that he was starter material and the Seahawks already had a starter in Russell Wilson. You have to admit: it's not every day a coach doesn't want a player on his team because he's too talented. Hard to come by that rationale in this business.
But hey: at least Carroll will say Kaepernick's name, right?
FAN MAIL
The Daily News received several emails from Giants fans this week in response to our column explaining Saquon Barkley's stance on racial injustice and police brutality. Opinions ran the gamut. Some fans support players kneeling during the national anthem in peaceful protest; some still do not.
But I particularly appreciated the all-around perspective of Giants fan Ron Charboneau, 68, of Burlington, Vt., who said he has been a Giants fan since 1967:
“Even though I am of mixed blood Seneca/ Italian and my father and uncles were in world war 2 I will not stop being a giants fan because Barkley or anyone else protested,” Charboneau wrote. “I will though if they continue to stink. I am an American first and love my country. This is what makes us great! God Bless America.”