Tahir Whitehead: Players are committed to making change

[Sir Purr]

CHARLOTTE — After NBA players on Wednesday decided to strike, protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., Panthers head coach Matt Rhule wanted to make sure his players were OK with continuing their scheduled activities. So he approached a few team leaders.


Ultimately, players wanted to practice. As linebacker Tahir Whitehead explained, the team agrees with the NBA players' actions, but the Panthers felt they needed to craft a plan specifically for them.


"We have a bunch of leaders on this team, a bunch of guys that believe in doing the right thing, and we're going to do the right thing," Whitehead said late Wednesday night. "We're going to make sure we put our heads together to make sure it's well thought out, and we're actually doing something to make change, make an impact in our community."


Still, Whitehead admitted it was "extremely hard" to focus on football.


"A lot of us, we have children. We have younger cousins, siblings, family members, and we know that it can easily be one of them at any point in time. It can easily be one of us," Whitehead said. "I think as hard as it is to focus on it, when you step in this building, you understand there's a bunch of men in this building that feel the same way that you feel. But also understand that you have to compartmentalize and go out there. And that's our outlet at the end of the day, so it's not that we go out there, we take the field, and nothing else matters.


"It's there in the back of our mind. But at the same time, it's our chance to kind of go out there and take a step back, enjoy the time and that camaraderie with one another. But then as soon as we step off, we're right back diving into it like, what are we going to do? How are we going to accomplish change?"