Taking pride in outspoken players, Curtin calls for more work

Wednesday marked the day that the Philadelphia Union and MLS had been waiting for. In a press release and ensuing media junket, the league laid out its plans to return, via a World Cupstyle knockout tournament in Orlando, complete with convoluted competition rules that called to mind just how much you missed parsing the ephemera of soccer legalese.

Such was the joy of the day that manager Jim Curtin could’ve focused on just soccer matters in his video conference. He could’ve addressed nothing else in his first talk with media in two weeks, the intervening time marking generational upheaval over police brutality and racial injustice in America.

But that’s not what Curtin chose, perhaps in part because it’s not what his players and former teammates and friends in locker rooms across the United States have chosen.

“You have the buildup of 400 years of oppression for black people, systemic racism in our country has kind of led to the culmination in the brutal murder of George Floyd,” began Curtin’s opening statement. “We live in a country in the United States that is racist. We live in a world that is racist. And if you zoom out and you look at the game of soccer that we play, we play a game where racism is as prevalent as in any other sport.

“You still have issues in 2020 of horrible racist chants in stadiums, of bananas thrown on the field at players and minimal to almost no punishment or change. I look at this problem in our country as not a southern problem or a middle-of-the-country problem or a west-coast problem or an eastcoast problem or as a liberal-conservative, Republican-Democrat problem. It’s one that affects everybody. It’s present each and every day of our lives.”

As a resident of Philadelphia with an uncomfortably close view of protests and unrest roiling the city, Curtin has spent time pondering his place in the tumult. In the moment, his privilege could’ve been to overlook the issue, to stick to sports. He could’ve done what MLS did in its press release, attributing a quote to MLS Commissioner Don Garber that cut on a dime from the reopening to the protests so abruptly that you could hear knee ligaments shearing.

Curtin expressed his hesitance at “feeling almost not worthy to speak” on the issue. He echoed sentiments from May that put soccer into perspective against the COVID-19 crisis. Here again, the on-field aspect shrinks in comparison to the literal life-and-death issue so many of his players have passionately and eloquently spoken about.

But Curtin also realizes that in sticking to soccer, there’s plenty to interrogate.

“I can look internally at myself in a league where, you look on the field and somewhere in the ballpark of 50 percent of our players are black but I turn to my own staff and I have to question and judge, am I doing enough to bring more diversity to our group?,” he said “It’s also a league-wide problem, it’s not a Philadelphia Union problem: Front offices, general managers, these things all have to be looked at and action needs to be taken to make things better in our country.”

Google “racism in soccer” and you’ll be treated to a horror show. Slaps on the wrist by leagues like Italy’s Serie A – read about former Union forward Fafa Picault’s experiences there – and other European leagues haven’t curtailed racial abuse of players. The backwardness endures even as the last two men’s World Cup winners, France and Germany, have achieved prominence by embracing diversity in their player pools. Even in MLS, which professes to be one of the more progressive leagues, is lousy at hiring diversity: Of the league’s 26 coaches, only two are black, and even the rising tide of Latino coaches is swamped by a continued reliance on Europeans.

Curtin expressed admiration for players speaking up, whether it was social media posts from Mark McKenzie or an article posted on the FC Dallas site by Picault or TV interviews by CJ Sapong, now with the Chicago Fire. He reserved special praise for Union defender Ray Gaddis, the longest-tenured member of the club who took part in demonstrations in his hometown of Indianapolis.

Gaddis, who returned home to Indiana during the pandemic, returned this week with an “I Can’t

Breathe #GeorgeFloyd” t-shirt.

“I think everybody saw on social media how important he is in his community in Indiana,” Curtin said. “Had a great talk and discussion with him and I learned a lot from his experience there, too. A guy that has been with the Union for a long time now, a guy that is an exemplary person off the field, speaks up when he needs to speak up and is a leader and a winner in his community. …

“Guys that are out on the front lines, being active, protesting, engaging in conversation, speaking their mind, it makes me proud as a coach because I learned a ton from those guys as players on and off the field. They’re winners, they’re great people.”

It’s not tough to connect Curtin’s stance on race and his coaching disposition, and not just in labeling him a “player’s manager.” Throughout a coaching tenure that began six years ago Wednesday, Curtin has demonstrated a certain humility. He’s open to learning, from the myriad experts that three different soccer executives have brought in to coaching inputs from all over the world. Listening to players who’ve experienced racism is how he grafts that approach onto this part of life as a manager.

Curtin included a call to action, echoing the sentiments of activist DeRay Mckesson in asking, “what are you willing to risk to change history?”

“I think it’s time now that leadership in our country and government, white people in general need to be willing to risk more,” Curtin said. “Every person’s level of risk is going to be different to their situation, but it is a time for all of us to come together, to speak out, to listen, to get to know each other on a closer level and work to improve things. I’m really proud of all of our players that have been active and have not just done it with retweets or posts on social media but have actually been engaged in conversations, in protests.

“It makes me proud as a head coach and I’m proud to be part of the Philadelphia Union. It’s a starting point, but we need to do more and get better.”