Tavarres opts against anthem protest
PHILADELPHIA >> At some point this season, Eagles players hope to offer a collective, constructive approach to resolving issues among minorities and the law enforcement community.
It almost certainly won’t be during the preseason finale against the New York Jets Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Eagles linebacker Myke Tavarres, who is passionate about race relations, decided against doing a Colin Kaepernick protest during the national anthem Thursday. Agent Corey Williams, who represents Tavarres, said the undrafted rookie will stand, not sit, just hours after his client told ESPN.com he would go Kaepernick and sit.
“Myke does not want to be a distraction to the Philadelphia Eagles organization,” Williams said in a statement. “Myke’s goal is and will always be to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster and help the team win a Super Bowl.”
Kaepernick turned the sports world upside down Friday when he sat for the anthem before the San Francisco 49ers played the Green Bay Packers.
“I’m not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told the NFL Network. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Jenkins has strong feelings about those issues as well. Jenkins and teammates Jordan Matthews, Chris Maragos and Jason Kelce met with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross before training camp.
“We had a candid conversation about how to change some things,” Jenkins said. “Specifically in Philadelphia, and how to bridge that gap between law enforcement and black communities.”
Jenkins wasn’t an immediate fan of Kaepernick’s protest. His feelings have changed as the conversation about race has gone viral.
“On second thought, just looking back and really how the response has been, I think the motivation behind it was to really get everybody to talk about it,” Jenkins said. “And a lot of times to do that you’ve got to ruffle some feathers and I think from that standpoint, he’s accomplished what he wants. I don’t knock him. I think it was obviously a bold stance and one that would come with a lot of criticism. But a lot of the time that’s what it calls for. If he was my teammate I wouldn’t be upset. In fact I’d probably want him to share that with other guys.”
Matthews doesn’t believe Kaepernick was ripping veterans who view the flag and the national anthem as symbols of the freedom they fight for.
“I think he came back later and said it was not an insult to the military,” Matthews said. “I don’t think anybody in their right mind would ever take for granted what the military does for us. I know Colin wouldn’t do that. I’ve been around Colin. He’s a smart guy. Everybody understands the racial tension that’s been going on. Everybody takes their stands different ways. That was his way of doing it. But at the same time I think when you get to the root of the thing it wasn’t like he was trying to disrespect the military or anything like that. It was more so just the racial things that are going on.
“We have the utmost respect for our military here, and I think the whole NFL does, too.”
While the conversation went this way and that Monday, head coach Doug Pederson put out a statement through the Eagles.
“We respect the national anthem, its history and our many freedoms as Americans that it celebrates,” it read. “We also respect an individual’s freedom of expression.”
Jenkins indicated there are Eagles players passionate about race issues beyond Tavarres, the undrafted free agent out of Incarnate Word, an FCS school in San Antonio, Texas.
In time, they will be heard.
“I think when you talk about doing a protest or doing something visually you want to be well coordinated and you don’t want to necessarily isolate anybody, either,” Jenkins said. “You would want it to be a group effort.”
To Jenkins, the issue is crystal clear.
“At the end of the day all of the right-minded people should be talking about is the reason behind it and what it is that (Kaepernick is) trying to get across,” Jenkins said. “And that’s that minorities and African Americans, especially across this nation, are tired of having a different life than everybody else. Whether you want to talk about systematic racism or police brutality it’s a problem across the nation that needs to be fixed.”
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva, the Army Ranger cut by the Eagles a few years ago, is all for a solution. But Villanueva has been in enough live combat in Afghanistan not to take personally attacks on the symbols so closely aligned with freedom.
“I agree that America is not perfect, I agree there are lot of issues with minorities in this country, I agree we should do something about it,” Villanueva told reporters. “But I don’t know if the most effective way is to sit down when the national anthem of the country that is providing you freedom and providing you $60 million a year is the best way to do it when there are black minorities that are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan and protecting our freedom for less than $20,000 a year.”