Opinion: Three years after partnering with NFL, Players Coalition members chalking up wins
When a handful of NFL players first approached NFL owners in the fall of 2017 about enlisting their services in the fight for social justice, none of them knew exactly how things would play out. They didn’t even have a clear vision of how to tackle the problems plaguing people of color in communities across the country. But the players knew something had to be done.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had started the conversation about the need to combat systematic oppression on people of color. And players received backlash from fans, NFL owners and President Donald Trump for supporting Kaepernick, and in some cases joining him, in protesting during the national anthem.
But players like Anquan Boldin and Malcolm Jenkins wanted to do more than protest. Peers like Doug Baldwin, Kelvin Beachum, Demario Davis, Chris Long, Devin McCourty, Josh McCown, Rodney McLeod, Josh Norman, Torrey Smith and Benjamin Watson agreed and began looking for ways to make an impact. They believed NFL owners could actually help further their reach.
Eventually, that group became the Players Coalition, and they formed a partnership with the NFL and its owners, who the following spring agreed to donate close to $90 million for programs to combat social inequality.
“To be honest with you, we didn’t know what to expect going in,” Boldin, who a year earlier had retired abruptly to focus on the fight for social justice, told Paste BN Sports in a telephone conversation this week. “But I can tell you we’ve been pleasantly surprised. Some people were skeptical of us going into it, especially with us doing the partnership with the NFL. I don’t know, for whatever reason, people didn’t think it was genuine.”
At the time, some critics wrote off word of the players' efforts as a PR stunt. Others believed the league’s owners were simply trying to pacify players in order to stop them from protesting during the anthem. Others, including Kaepernick and close friend and former teammate Eric Reid, accused members of the Players Coalition of selling out.
But now entering the third year of their union, the members of the Players Coalition and fellow socially active NFL players are seeing tangible proof of their intentions and efforts.
“I can tell you over the three years, the work we’ve been doing, the partnerships we’ve made in this space, people can see these guys aren’t in it for a PR stunt,” Boldin continued. “We’re in it to see our country change for the better … These communities have welcomed us. We’ve worked with a lot of grass-roots organizations, and they’ve been able to see our hearts, as well as us seeing theirs. We didn’t know what to expect going into it. But I’m proud of the relationships we’ve built over the last three years.”
Since the forming of the partnership in 2018, the NFL has awarded social justice organizations more than $25 million in grants. More than 500 grants have been given to current and former players to support nonprofits across the country. The primary focus: education, police and community relations and criminal justice reform.
The NFL on Tuesday announced a relaunch of the Inspire Change initiative running from now until the Super Bowl that will highlight the work players and teams are doing in their communities.
Additionally, the NFL and Players Coalition are awarding six new grants and two grant renewals, totaling roughly $3 million, which brings the total number of national social justice grant recipients to 18.
The six new community organizations: Alabama Appleseed, City Year, Community Justice Exchange, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Metropolitan Family Services, and the National Urban League. They all focus on strengthening education and community/police relationships and criminal justice reform. The organizations were selected after going through the Players Coalition and NFL’s submission, vetting and voting process, Boldin explained.
“We’ve got 18 different organizations that are receiving (national) grants right now, and that’s something we’re proud of,” Boldin said. “It’s a constant communication when it comes to the Players Coalition and the NFL. Like I said, any time you have a working relationship like that, you have to learn each other and grow in trust, and we’re at that point where the NFL trusts us and we trust the NFL as well, and the work we’ve been able to do is a result of that relationship coming together: us being able to go directly to owners and let them know what we’re passionate about, them telling us what they’re passionate about and us partnering with them. I’m thinking of the Haslams in Cleveland, us doing an education initiative with them, us doing work with Mr. Blank in Atlanta. Mr. Kraft working with us on Raise the Age in Boston, so I feel like the relationship has been pretty fruitful.”
The fight against racial and social inequality is never-ending, and at times progress is hard to physically measure. But Boldin said he and his fellow former and current NFL players heavily involved in the work – a number that the Players Coalition says now tops 100 – do have tangible results to point to: legislation that has been passed in certain states the last two years to restore voter's rights to individuals who have completed probation, to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction, the programs that they see being implemented in the schools that they frequently visit.
“There are definitely wins that you can point to that guys have put sweat equity into and are seeing results from it, and that encourages guys to go out and do even more,” he explained. “One of the things that we’ve been fortunate enough to do is actually go out and spend time with grant recipients. For example, me and (New York Jets offensive lineman) Kelvin Beachum had a grant recipient at a school in Brooklyn and being able to go in and talk to a teacher and students, it gives you that real-life experience, not just cutting a check and not knowing what it was going to.
“One thing we always get is people are appreciative for the NFL players who stand up and give their voices for them. Lots of times, they feel helpless. They feel like nobody cares about what they’re going through, but to see guys they see on TV speak up for them and go to bat for them, they’re encouraged by us using our platform.”
That’s all Boldin and his brethren need to hear to know that their efforts are not in vain.
Follow Paste BN Sports’ Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones and listen to the Football Jones podcast on iTunes.