By Willona M. Sloan
What right do professional football players in the National Football League have to express their political views both on and off the field? As citizens, as workers and as athletes, should they be able to use their platforms for political protest? And where is the line between advocacy and disruptive controversy?
Those questions were at the heart of a discussion at the George Washington University, “Sportsmanship in Advocacy: A Conversation with the National Football League Players Association,” which drew a crowd that filled the Marvin Center’s Grand Ballroom.
The 2017 NFL season saw a wave of on-field protests, with multiple players on every team opting to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem in protest of political issues that included police violence and systemic racism.
“Last year was one of the most personally satisfying years that I’ve had in the job,” said DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the National Football Players Association (NFLPA). “Collectively, you saw a group of players, for lack of a better phrase, find their voice. I think that you saw the best of what our men represent when it comes to their role in their communities and the use of their collective voice.”
The protests, which evolved from San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s kneeled protests during the 2016 season, drew both support and criticism from fans and sharp condemnation from President Donald Trump. Although for fans, seeing players protest on-field might have been new, some players said they had been discussing these complicated issues for a long time.
Madieu Williams, a retired NFL player, said that he believes players who participated in protests last season “were more empowered.”
“I think they were more unified in terms of how they were going about displaying the message,” Mr. Williams said. “These conversations were being had behind closed doors for many, many years.”
Presented Tuesday evening by GW’s Graduate School of Political Management and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the panel discussion was moderated by POLITICO’s Jake Sherman, B.A. ’08, and featured Mr. Smith, Mr. Williams and Lara M. Brown, director of GSPM.
Dr. Brown discussed the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the protests from the standpoint of advocacy effectiveness, noting that players taking stands on diverse issues may have diluted the overall message of the movement. “I would love to see an organized action that brought more people in and actually could bring the owners in, rather than have it feel as though it’s the owners, and the fans (some of the fans), the president against the players, and all of this conflict, which of course the media loved,” said Dr. Brown.
Mr. Smith pointed to the history of political protests in America, which have often had multiple starting points, paths and leaders who may have different viewpoints. He noted that across the league, while individual players had issues that they brought to the forefront, the organic nature of the protests made them both powerful and difficult to ignore or shut down.
POLITICO’s Jake Sherman (l), B.A. ’08, GSPM Director Lara Brown, retired NFL player Madieu Williams and head of of the NFL players union Demaurice Smith.
Off the field, advocacy work plays an important role in players’ lives. According to the NFLPA, the average player has a tenure of about three and 1/2 years in the league. For that reason, the association encourages players to be advocates for policies that will protect their health, safety and income, among other issues.
The NFLPA hosts lobbying days on Capitol Hill and encourages players to speak with their congressional representatives about issues that affect current and retired players, including workers’ compensation laws, access to health care and concussion awareness. The association also helps players to set up foundations and strategize about ways to give back to the community.
“I’ve always stressed not only activism, but action. I think it’s important that our players vote. I think it’s important that our players are active in their communities,” Mr. Smith said.
