NFL players fight back against Trump at ballot box
The president, vice president and plenty of other politicians have taken their shots at NFL players protesting racial inequality and the social and economic disparities it causes.
Now it’s the players’ turn.
For the past few weeks, members of the Players Coalition have been participating in voter registration drives and doing PSAs to encourage people to vote. They’ve been lobbying for ballot initiatives that, among other things, would return voting rights to people in Florida convicted of non-violent felonies; reclassify low-level drug possession in Ohio to a misdemeanor; and make it easier to vote in Michigan.
And on Nov. 6, election day, the players are planning to have a public presence in several cities, making one last effort to remind people of the importance of their vote.
“If we don’t give the public a way to get involved other than point out the problems, we’re not having the greatest impact that we can. The biggest impact we all have is our vote,” Malcolm Jenkins, who co-founded the Players Coalition with former wide receiver Anquan Boldin, told USA TODAY.
“What we’ve seen is that when things in our country change, it’s because our voices aren’t represented,” said Jenkins, an Eagles safety. “This is the way to make our voices heard the loudest.”
Despite the frequent and often harsh criticism of President Donald Trump, this is not a partisan effort. The players have been careful not to engage with him, Boldin said, because a personal feud only detracts from the work that needs to be done.
The same goes for throwing their support behind a particular party or candidate.
The country has gotten so focused on names and labels that issues have become secondary. By focusing on particular issues and educating people on the impact they have in their community, it shifts the dynamic.
“The votes need to go to where the issues are,” Jenkins said. “That’s one of the things we think we have the opportunity to do right now. Not tell people which way to vote but educate them what is up. What are they voting for. What are the issues that are out there.
“And allow people to decide for themselves.”
The Players Coalition has focused on eliminating the laws, policies and attitudes that marginalize people of color. No surprise, given that the NFL is made up of predominantly African-American players.
But voting, and the ballot initiatives players are lobbying for, impact everyone.
Take Florida’s Amendment 4, which would restore voting rights to people convicted of felonies, with the exception of murder and felony sexual assault, once they have completed their entire sentence. This would impact roughly 1.4 million people in Florida, about 70 percent of whom are non-African-Americans, Boldin said.
“It’s something that affects people from different walks of life,” Boldin said, noting that felony convictions can include everything from DUIs and drug offenses to driving without a license to fraud. “It’s not just a black issue, it’s not just a white issue.”
And it’s something simple that can benefit a community.
Studies have shown that restoring voting rights actually reduces recidivism and can boost an economy. If you lock people out of a society or tell them they’re not full participants in it, what incentive do they have to preserve it?
“Speaking to a lot of people (affected), they say they don’t feel like complete or whole citizens again without the right to vote. That says a lot,” said Boldin, who released a PSA in support of Amendment 4 this week and penned an op-ed last week with Stan Van Gundy, Grant Hill and Warrick Dunn.
“When people get out of prison and they’re returning citizens and they’re convicted felons, we want them to be productive citizens. But it’s almost like we don’t want to give them all the tools to integrate.”
By enabling and encouraging people to vote, the players might well be empowering the folks who could turn their harshest critics out of office. But that’s the small view.
All the players want is an equal society. Getting people to vote furthers that aim.
“How people want to critique or criticize us, we’re honestly not really concerned about that,” Boldin said. “Seeing people get a second chance in life, that’s huge. Seeing people not being disenfranchised, that’s big.
“Seeing people not being discriminated against, that’s the America I want to see.”
The president and other politicians would be wise to take note: You don’t always have to raise your voice to make yourself heard.