Brady’s move sends signal to athletes
It was a good thing to see Tom Brady among the current and former NFL players, plus others, who signed on with the Players Coalition to demand a federal investigation into the death of Ahmaud Arbery.
In the 21⁄2 years since it was established, we’ve come to increasingly expect the Coalition, largely consisting of African American players, to voice resistance to matters that involve social justice.
But Brady – like most white players – typically takes a pass.
What a message it sends now, however, for the NFL’s most popular figure to signify his support in this case. Like how heinous.
Arbery, an African American, was slain by Gregory and Travis McMichael, both white, in broad daylight in southeast Georgia in February – and the assailants weren’t arrested until last week after footage of the brutal attack that police had in their possession for months became public.
No, Brady, like so many other people with a conscious, apparently couldn’t stomach that slaying – and the shoddy handling of the case by the authorities.
“It just goes to show that people are tired of (the injustice) happening,” Anquan Boldin, the former receiver who co-founded the Coalition, said Monday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “We’ve seen it over and over again, and far too long we’ve allowed it to go on and not speak out about it. So to have someone like Tom Brady sign the letter, it was very significant.”
Intended or not, “someone like Tom Brady” also sent another message that needs to resonate: White players can stand up, too, for social justice – and if it hits home with the general population to be similarly inspired, even better.
Think about how Martin Luther King Jr. put it: “To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.”
And that goes for all of us.
Brady is not alone in his distinction as a white man lending his name (or more, in some cases) to causes that strike a chord with minorities. Eagles quarterback Josh McCown and former defensive end Chris Long are on the Coalition’s task force board. Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, who demonstrated support for victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting in 2018, was also among the 64 signers of the Arbery letter sent last week. Also signing were Warriors coach Steve Kerr, former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, and Patriots center David Andrews and tight end Ryan Izzo.
To an overwhelming degree, though, it has been African American players using their platform to take up social causes – sadly, it cost Colin Kaepernick his NFL career for daring, during the national anthem, to protest the killings of multiple unarmed African Americans by police in 2016 – as a matter of responsibility to their communities.
That’s natural in the sense that issues of inequality resonate because victims of social inequalities that include police brutality so often look like them. If they haven’t been victimized personally, there’s a better-than-average chance they know someone who has.
Boldin, for instance, was moved to establish the Coalition after his cousin, Corey Jones, was shot to death by a plainclothes policeman in the middle of the night while he awaited emergency road service.
Yet while a number of African American players have in recent years picked up a tradition from previous generations in taking social stands or become more active politically, most white players have not been so moved to join in with minority teammates.
That’s another reason why Brady’s gesture has added weight.
During an April interview with Howard Stern, Brady was asked if he ever felt “racial self-consciousness” or “guilt” as a white quarterback playing with predominantly African American teammates. He responded, “Never. I never saw race. I think sports transcends race, it transcends wealth, it transcends all of that.”
Brady’s essential point was that, regardless of cultural differences, teammates have to find a way to handle their athletic business.
Yet the response illustrated how easy it can be for some people to be oblivious to the world around them if they so choose. Just think what would have happened if the new Buccaneers quarterback had chosen to sit out the Coalition’s stand in the case involving the Arbery tragedy. There would have been no debate. No pressure to join the cause. No sweat. No questions asked.
That’s one reflection of white privilege for a star athlete. They can become conveniently invisible. I was reminded of the contrast while watching the ESPN documentary series “The Last Dance” as it revisited Michael Jordan’s refusal in 1990 to publicly endorse Harvey Gantt in the former Charlotte mayor’s bid to unseat Republican Sen. Jesse Helms in Jordan’s home state of North Carolina. Jordan was quoted as saying, “Republicans buy sneakers, too,” though he said in the documentary that the remark was an “off-the-cuff” joke.
Agree with Jordan’s position or not, the case illustrated how high-profile black athletes are so often expected – if not publicly, then privately – to engage in issues that involve race as a matter of principle. Their white counterparts can undoubtedly escape controversy attached to social issues much more – although not always completely.
Brady had a brush a few years ago after a “Make America Great Again” cap, a symbol of President Donald Trump’s campaign, was spotted in his locker. Brady, whose friendship with Trump apparently links to the golf course, downplayed the politics associated with the hat, even though Trump has dropped the quarterback’s name during speeches.
When the Patriots advanced to Super Bowl LI in early 2017, Brady made it a point to dismiss any political connection to Trump. After one of his news conferences that week, Brady told me, “If people want to take sides, you know, they can obviously do that. It’s everyone’s right. They have a right to do that. And I have a right to stay out of it, too.”
That was typical TB12, stiff-arming non-football issues with a GQ smile.
Now he’s exercising his right to make a statement – that might be felt in more ways than one.