Pete Carroll: NFL has massive platform, needs to use it

[Blitz]

Getty Images

As the NFL reckons with a social movement championed by many of its players four years after Colin Kaepernick first put the topic on the table with his protests, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Thursday the league itself is in a position to lead in this moment of civil unrest.

After Kaepernick began protesting police brutality and social injustice during the national anthem in 2016, many members of the Seahawks have taken part in protests of their own. The acts they’ve chosen have ranged from taking a knee as Kaepernick did, remaining seated during the national anthem, raising a fist in the air or staying in the locker room altogether. While Carroll and the Seahawks have supported their players’ rights to express themselves, Carroll said it’s time the league steps up and does more.

“Obviously we didn’t get the message before when we had the chance to,” Carroll said. “The message is the same message; we need to hear it better and hear it right as people that support the game and that love the game from the outside. That message comes from our guys, and we have to listen to them and grow with them and respond to them and make sure that we represent them. The NFL is as powerful an institution as there is in the country, and this freakin’ league needs to stand up for the right stuff and make things move where we can make things move. We have a lot of power.”

The league has been pushed further in their supporting of the Black Lives Matter cause in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement has sparked protests across the country and put the topic front-and-center for teams during their team meetings in the weeks since. A group of the league’s brightest young black stars pointedly asked for support for the NFL and Roger Goodell delivered a message soon after pledging to do just that and said the league erred in its handling of the moment previously.

Carroll said that he’s always viewed the NFL as a players’ league dating back to those who helped set the table for the product its become today. He said it’s up to the league to throw its support behind them at this moment.

“This is driven by the players. It’s driven by their love for the game, their willingness to go out and play the game that they love and risk the things that they risk to do it. And in that we should respect them in that regard we should also respect them for what they have to say about the game and what they bring to it,” Carroll said.

“We have the platform to do great stuff, well let’s let our guys be in position to do that, and let’s make sure that we support them and promote them. Black people know what’s necessary, they’ve been living this life. It’s white people that have got to come on board and figure it out. We need our guys to speak on behalf of what is right and what is necessary…. We need to follow these guys, they know what’s going on. They’re coming from exactly the right place, they’re coming from their hearts and coming from their experiences that they uniquely know, and they will teach us an extraordinary amount that will make it all come to life if we do it right.

“Just being with it isn’t good enough. Just being on board, that ain’t good enough. We’ve seen that before, we’ve got to go… It’s absolutely what has to happen. I feel like we’re right in the middle of it, and we have to get activated, because we may have an opportunity to help more than some other groups would, and we’re going to go for it. Our guys are committed and determined and we’re all doing this together. It’s an extraordinary time and we’ve got to make this really work for us. We’ve got to do the right thing.”