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The police shooting of Jacob Blake has escalated the social unrest in America and around the world even more. And the sports world is not being silent about it. That includes Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
According to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network on Twitter, Kingsbury spoked out against police brutality and shared his unique perspective on racism.
#AZCardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury was asked today if he's had any particular conversations in recent months that help him navigate these times? His answer was pretty powerful. pic.twitter.com/DF4Nbow6I6
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 27, 2020
Kliff Kingsbury had some very powerful words today while describing a conversation with his dad, Tim, a former Marine and high school football coach. Take a moment to read this. pic.twitter.com/3aWmtIFlWI
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) August 27, 2020
“I had a great conversation with my dad over the summer, and his perspective on things is really valuable as we get closer to the season, and the anthem discussions and things of that nature,” Kliff Kingsbury said. “My dad was a long-time football coach but also a marine, served in Vietnam, you see the Purple Heart. In talking to him, there's two words that really stood out. One of them was ‘respect' and the second thing was ‘understanding'. Respect the viewpoints people have on this topic and that they're very personal and very passionate, and then respect their right to express themselves.
“I think you got to understand at its core, what this is really about, and it's always been about, [is] drawing attention to the social injustice that continues to take place. We saw it again this week with Jacob Blake. It's about increasing awareness that racism exists, police brutality against people of color continues to happen and let's not forget that or confuse that with something else or make the narrative different.
“I think my biggest takeaway from talking with my dad was kneeling doesn't reflect a lack of patriotism or respect for the military in any way, just like standing during the anthem doesn't mean you're okay with racism or social injustice. And it's important to respect and understand that.
“These are important issues that need to be addressed and important conversations that need to be had, and I'm grateful that I've been able to be around, like I said, a great group of guys that have enlightened me hearing their stories and their struggles, and so those conversations will continue throughout the year and I just hope we can all continue to push in the right direction.”
Kliff Kingsbury gave an interesting story about a conversation he had with his dad. As he mentioned, his father was a football coach and a marine that served in Vietnam – he has a Purple Heart.
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Kingsbury's father talked about having respect for people's opinions and needing to recognize subtleties. Standing for the flag does not mean you stand with racism and kneeling during the anthem does not mean you are against the military or lack patriotism.
The comments from the coach are not that surprising, as Josh Weinfuss of ESPN also tweeted that the Cardinals had an “open minded” team meeting with a “good discussion”.
A source described the Cardinals’ team meeting this morning as “open-minded” and a “good discussion.”
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) August 27, 2020
Kliff Kingsbury and his players seem to be ready to talk. He has his views and he is hoping you will listen to his ideas and respect them – he plans to do that for you.
