Sport
the times | Saturday September 12 2020 1GS 23
during the national anthem, he would
rather the league not play. And on
opening night on Thursday the
players were happy to call his bluff.
During a pre-recorded performance
of the national anthem only the
Kansas City Chiefs defensive end
Alex Okafor took a knee, raising his
fist in the Black Power salute as he
did so. Some turned to face the flag,
but most of his team-mates stood in a
line, arms linked, the unity symbolism
clear.
Their opponents, the Houston
Texans, elected to remain in theMoment of unity starts new season
At the start of a new year a dose of
out with the old, in with the new can
be healthy.
And while that may be the
overarching theme on the field this
NFL season — the swansong of
ageing quarterbacks; the first steps on
the path to greatness for the Draft
class of 2020 — it is a sea-change in
attitude off the field, in one area in
particular, that will be marked.
It says something of the force of
feeling for the Black Lives Matter
movement in the wake of the deaths
of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and
others that it has made one of the
most serious pandemics in history
almost a footnote to the summer.
It was as though the players
realised that they would finally be
heard, and they collectively willed the
season to start so that they could use
their platform without facing the
obstacles that Colin Kaepernick did
four years ago when first highlighting
police brutality against young black
men by refusing to stand for the
national anthem.
For many it is four years too late,
but the co-ordinated drive to speak
out against racism and social injustice
has forced even Jerry Jones, the
Donald Trump-supporting owner of
the Dallas Cowboys, to give the green
light to protests from his players.
Trump had already said that if
players choose to kneel in protestlocker room for the anthem and the
performance of Lift Every Voice and
Sing, which was written in 1900 by
James Wheldon Jones, the civil rights
activist, and is often called the black
national anthem. It is to be played at
every game in week one of the
season, and the Texans were fearful of
being misrepresented in their
response to both songs.
“We didn’t want anything that was
divisive,” Michael Thomas, the Texans
safety, said. “And it was really just
making a decision that we were done
with empty gestures.”
That sentiment was echoed by the
Miami Dolphins who released a video
outlining why they will be staying in
the locker room for the pre-game
displays all season. “This attempt to
unify only creates more divide,” was
the message from several players.
The gestures, empty or otherwise,
are not universally appreciated, as
shown by the smattering of boos from
the 16,000-strong socially distanced
crowd that greeted the moment both
teams lined up down the centre of the
field on Thursday. They are there to
watch players play, not protest, their
argument goes.
Fortunately Patrick Mahomes and
Deshaun Watson, the quarterbacks of
the Chiefs and Texans respectively,
are adept at both. They have been at
the forefront of the campaign to end
social injustice, but on Thursday they
were back in their day jobs as the
Chiefs sealed a 34-20 victory over the
Texans. On and off the field opening
night set the tone for the season.The Texans chose to stay inside during
the anthem while Okafor took a kneeAmerican football
Charles Walfordgrandmother to Covid-19 but is not planning a tribute to them before the fight
NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTDTonight, ring walks expected 10pm
TV: BT Sport 1 (coverage starts 7.30pm)Yarde v Spelman