Strong leadership guides Pats
Captains lead by example off the field
In the wake of George Floyd’s death under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the issue of how NFL players choose to observe the national anthem when games are played will be watched even more closely than when Colin Kaepernick started a trend of peacefully protesting by taking a knee.
It has the potential to divide locker rooms. For example, if a player who in his heart, words and actions supports Black Lives Matter sentiments, but for reasons very personal to him and having nothing to do with race decides to remain standing during the national anthem, will that be perceived as not supporting the cause? Will that player, in the minds of some, be considered something he knows he is not, namely a racist?
The more players communicate ahead of time, the better chance they have of remaining united as a team without leaving any feelings hidden.
Thanks to their veteran leadership, the Patriots stand as good a chance as any team at figuring out how to negotiate their way through the anthem and any other related issues that might surface. Five of their seven captains from last season — David Andrews, Dont’a Hightower, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, and James White — are back. Tom Brady is with the Buccaneers and Elandon Roberts has reunited with Dolphins head coach Brian Flores.
The five returnees bring a combined 47 years of NFL game experience, diverse life stories and no shortage of social activism to their roles as captains.
On Thursday, one of the returning captains expressed confidence that the Patriots will stay together and have each others’ backs.
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out as a team,” White said. “I’m not sure what that’ll be but I’m sure guys will peacefully protest in some type of form or fashion.”
The deadline for reaching a consensus on the mechanics of a peaceful protest is not urgent — the Patriots’ first exhibition game is scheduled for Aug. 13 at Gillette Stadium vs. the Lions — but the players and other leaders in the organization didn’t wait for an encroaching deadline to hold conversations about race.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick invited Rahsaan Hall, director of the Massachusetts ACLU’s racial justice program, onto Friday’s Zoom team meeting to lead a discussion for an hour.
“It’s awesome,” White said of the opportunity. “Coach Belichick has an open mind. He understands everything that’s going on and some people are upset. He wanted to get a better grasp on things. We all wanted to get a better grasp on things. So it’s very cool to have that to understand everything that’s going on and how different players may feel differently so we can kind of form a common ground.”
White believes conversations feel different now than in the past.
“I think everybody’s trying to speak out a little more,” he said. “A lot of people are feeling more comfortable letting people know how they feel. Some people might not understand that racism still exists, but it does. The color of your skin, unfortunately, comes with different things in America, so just trying to raise people’s awareness. It’s tied to things like the George Floyd situation, year after year and time after time, so people have to be held accountable and things like that. And some laws need to change, people’s actions need to be changed, but it all starts with a conversation, I think. All these people speaking up is only going to help.”
Kaepernick first decided not to stand during the anthem in the exhibition season of 2016 and carried it into the regular season. Thirteen months later, when President Trump called NFL players who elected not to stand for the anthem “sons of bitches,” a number of players, including 17 Patriots, took a knee during the anthem before that week’s games.
White looked back on that day against the Houston Texans.
“We just wanted to stand with Kap,” White said. “We understood what he was trying to do. Being black and being in America, we understood exactly what he was talking about. It was difficult at the time. Some people might not have understood. Some people didn’t want to understand, but like I said with everything going on in the world today, I think it’s important that people educate themselves, do a little research and find ways to understand how America works.”
The son of a police officer, White shared one of his father’s lessons.
“My dad always taught me that even though he is a cop, and has a uniform, he’s just a black man in society and the same thing that happened to George Floyd, that can happen to my dad,” White said. “It doesn’t matter how much money you make or what job you have, if somebody feels they’re more important or that they have more power than you, if they try to make a statement or whatever, they can try to take your life. My dad always made me aware of what I should do when I get pulled over and things of that nature, how to treat cops and things of that nature, so I see both sides. I’ve heard a lot of stories from my dad’s perspective, so it always helps.”
White mentioned Slater and Devin and Jason McCourty by name as players who consistently have sought to make a difference in the community.
“They’ve always set a great example of what things should be done and how things should be done to make positive change in the world,” White said. “It’s good to have that veteran leadership and the leadership of Mr. (Robert) Kraft. When you walk into the building, the outreach that they’re trying to make into the community, and trying to make positive change, you learn it from Day 1, as soon as you step in.”
White boiled the race issue that can grow so complex down to simple terms.
“Morally, I think everybody should treat everybody the same, respect everybody, get to know everybody for their character,” he said. “I think the world should just open their ears and listen to everybody’s feelings. I think that’s the only way to make things work.”