John Lewis, a civil rights icon who recently passed away, will be honored by the Atlanta Falcons before their game on Sunday. Despite his passing, the Falcons are making Lewis an honorary captain versus the Seattle Seahawks, per ESPN's Vaughn McClure.
Lewis passed away at the age of 80 on July 17 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. After the player introductions, the team will have a moment of silence for Lewis while they have a jersey with his last name at the 50-yard line. Besides Lewis, Atlanta will also honor Rev. C.T. Vivian, who was also known for his contributions to the civil rights movement.
Back in 1965, Lewis was involved in a historic event that was dubbed as ‘Bloody Sunday'. Lewis would be struck over the head by a state trooper in Alabama, leaving him bleeding.
Ricardo Allen, a safety for the Falcons, walked the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama with Lewis two years ago. The safety shared his thoughts on the team expressing their support for Lewis and others that contributed to combating social injustices.
“With everything going on right now in the world, we thought it would be best to start it off with somebody as legendary as John Lewis,” said Allen, one of the leaders of the team's social justice committee. “He's done so much for one of our biggest things that we want to stay connected with, one of our main topics as a team that we're always hitting on: voting rights and the Voting Act.
We've had quite a few unfortunate instances of racial injustice occur in recent months. While there is plenty of change that still needs to happen, the least we can do is celebrate Lewis for the hero he is and was.
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