Cougars postpone practice, call for change
The University of Houston football team called off Saturday’s practice in response to ongoing racial injustices in the United States.
“Today’s sit out at UH was about coming together against racial injustice, to have difficult conversations and to devise a plan to battle the hate shown to people of color in our community,” senior linebacker Grant Stuard, a team captain, posted on Twitter. “It was about unity. If you wish to stay divided, that’s on you. But WE will be United.”
UH joined college and pro teams from around the nation this week in calling off regular season and playoff games and practices following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. In an incident captured on video, Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a police officer as he entered his car on Aug. 23. He survived the shooting but is paralyzed from the waist down, according to reports.
Saturday, UH players took to social media to show support for change and equality.
Junior wide receiver Jeremy Singleton called the decision to call off practice a “boycott.”
Stuard, in a separate post, said it’s “bigger than football.” Others used the hashtag “Black Lives Matter.”
Senior defensive end Payton Turner posted a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. Cornerbacks coach Zac Etheridge wrote “We want change! #Unity #Equality.”
“You ain’t my color then you don’t know the struggle of livin’ black,” sophomore wide receiver Nathaniel Dell added on his Twitter page.
The football team’s decision to skip practice comes a day after the men’s basketball team met with athletic officials. The team did not practice Thursday or Friday.
“Our next generation gives me hope for our future in fighting racism and social injustice,” coach Kelvin Sampson said in a statement. “Respect and decency goes a long way. Being around the young men that represent our basketball program motivates and inspires me every day. Reach out to someone to let them know you love them, you respect them, you support them and you have their back. Black Lives Matter.”
Chris Pezman, UH’s vice president for athletics, called the meeting “incredibly powerful, raw and emotional.”
“Their candor, bravery, and willingness to fight for a brighter future should give us all hope,” Pezman posted on Twitter. “I am proud to stand with them and each of our student-athletes. Together we will make our world a better place.”
Earlier this summer, UH basketball players marched in protests over the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 in police custody in Minneapolis. The entire team attended a memorial service for Floyd in Houston.
“Bigger than basketball!!” sophomore guard Marcus Sasser wrote Saturday on Twitter.