The New York Jets players and coaches gathered to discuss the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisconsin police officers on Sunday.
The team shared their emotions, as they have before on these matters. For Bradley McDougald, the recently acquired safety, though, having another conversation isn't enough.
“I’m just sick and tired of being sick and tired,” McDougald said on a conference call with reporters after practice on Wednesday. “Guys are sick of talking about it. We’re sick of sharing our emotions about it. We’re hurt. To have that type of deep conversation and then snap right back in football mode is just … it’s crazy, but it’s the life we’re living. It’s the world we’re living in.”
Blake, 29, was shot several times by police in front of a car that held his three young children. He is currently hospitalized in Milwaukee, and is reportedly paralyzed from the waist down.
“My heart goes out to the family, but I mean, it seems like all we can do is talk and formulate ideas,” said McDougald. “Guys are getting tired of talking and formulating this perfect idea.”
McDougald said he noticed a different tenor in the team's latest discussion. “It was the first time I’ve seen guys really affected as they were,” McDougald said. “Some guys shed tears.”
The safety also related his personal experience to the ongoing movement protesting police brutality against Black people in this country.
“Me personally, I’m hurt by the whole situation. I’m an African American man, and that easily could have been me. As soon as I walk out of 1 Jets Drive (the address of the team’s training facility), I’m just another Black man, and I don’t know how a cop is going to see me. I have dreads and tattoos, and I’m bigger than the average male, but I don’t know how that cop is going to view me and the attitude and aggression he’s going to give me.”
According to McDougald, his fellow Jets teammates are committed to the fight for racial justice—however long it takes.
“A lot of my brothers in the locker room, they don’t want it swept under the rug,” he said. “This is not a one-day topic. This is something real in our communities that we’re dealing with, and I’m going to deal with it the rest of my life. My kids are going to deal with it. That’s just the fact of the matter.”
The Detroit Lions canceled practice earlier today due to the shooting.
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