Before a preseason NFL game on Thursday evening, Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Malcolm Jenkins elected to raise his fist over his head during the national anthem. In support of his teammate, Eagles defensive lineman Chris Long placed his hand on Jenkins’ back during the anthem, and when the song was over, the two players exchanged pleasantries before taking to the field.
In the aftermath of the gesture, Long has garnered quite a bit of attention for his choice, and in speaking to ESPN, the veteran said the following about what he did.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say you need white athletes to get involved in the anthem protests. I’ve said before I’ll never kneel for an anthem, because the flag means something different for everybody in this country, but I support my peers. And if you don’t see why you need allies for people that are fighting for equality right now, I don’t think you’ll ever see it. So my thing is, Malcolm is a leader, and I’m here to show support as a white athlete.”
Long has since spoken about the importance of a player of his skin color standing in solidarity with players protesting in support of racial equality, and on Friday, he joined The Rich Eisen Show for an extensive interview. As part of that discussion, Eisen prompted Long about the “stick to sports” crowd, and Long offered a thought-provoking response.
“Fans have demanded to see more of their athletes, right? That’s where we are in 2017. You want to know more about your favorite players, you want to know about their personal life. We’ve got social media. We place a lot of pressure on players to be role models and that includes, sometimes, tackling tough issues that might be uncomfortable and starting uncomfortable discussions.
I’ll never tell a fan on Twitter, unless I’m being sarcastic or just being a jerk, to stick to whatever they do for a living. We can all talk about the tough issues that are at hand in our country right now, and athletes certainly don’t need to be in a box. I don’t consider this a difficult thing to do. I don’t think it deserves praise. Supporting your fellow American… it’s a bare minimum. I’m here to do it and, mostly, the reception has been very positive so I don’t want to act like I’m being taken through the ringer here. There are some people that say they don’t want politics in sports, but I don’t remember a time when fighting white supremacy was a political issue. But evidently it is for a couple people in this country and that is unfortunate.”
Long’s assertion that fighting white supremacy is not a political issue is spot-on, and it is encouraging to see an athlete of his stature taking this stance in a public forum. As long previously noted, he won’t be protesting the anthem in the form of kneeling, but the veteran showed that, in one swift motion, it was exceedingly possible to support a teammate and fight back against the ignorance that is white supremacy and general inequality nationwide.
