Teams around the NFL have started using their platforms to denounce racial injustice as protests continue across the United States following the death of George Floyd. The Detroit Lions are now doing what they can to ensure that their players' voices are being heard throughout the organization with the help of head coach Matt Patricia.
Although the restrictions placed in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic already presents its own set of challenges, the Lions were among the teams to dedicate their virtual meeting to giving players a platform to speak on the aftermath of Floyd's death.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Patricia discussed the importance of his coaches and players educating themselves on the issues during a video call that included more than 120 people:
“That’s the whole point, you gotta walk in there and you gotta listen … The hardest thing for me, as a person, how I’m wired, when things happen in the world, whatever it is, instantly I go into this mode, I try to grind through it. OK, how do we fix this? What can we do? The hardest thing for me is to ever walk into a meeting and say, ‘I don’t understand and I don’t have the answers on this. What do we do?’
“That’s the truth. You walk in there and say, ‘Fellas, listen, I love you and I’m here for you. But I’m here to listen right now, and just know that I have your back. And I support you and I’m here for you because I love you. But I really think I gotta listen.’”
Patricia added that he is in no rush to get through the venting process.
“It was just about listening and making sure we tried to get on and open it up for conversation, real conversation, truthful conversation, honest conversation, heartfelt conversation … And really, honestly, credit to my players for leading that. They’re the ones that really were able to get it to where it became so powerful.”
“When everyone’s ready to talk and move in that direction of football, we’ll move when the team wants to move … I think the one thing to understand there — we won’t move away from the conversation. It’s just, at some point, you’re having the conversation and then you’re also working on what we do, which is football.”
It is encouraging to see that Patricia was willing to prioritize his players' mental well-being following Floyd's death as opposed to focusing on football-related matters. While there is still plenty of work to be done both on and off the field, it is imperative that the Lions organization as a whole is on the same page when it comes to addressing the plague of racism and promoting police reform.
There has been plenty of speculation regarding the prospect of player protests during the national anthem in the 2020 NFL season. It will be interesting to see if Patricia maintains his staunch support of allowing Lions players to continue using their platform to make their voices heard throughout the year.
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