Hill incident before Dolphins game again puts NFL on moral clock

Hill incident before Dolphins game again puts NFL on moral clock originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

After the NFL distanced itself from Colin Kaepernick and his admirable cause for eight full years, one of its teams is aligning with the Super Bowl quarterback it shoved onto the streets.

Miami Dolphins executives, after seeing bodycam video of police brutalizing star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, issued a statement Monday condemning the act and urging that the “overly aggressive and violent” officers be reprimanded for their “despicable” behavior toward the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Black man.

The Dolphins’ statement should be commended for its intent. Words matter, and the statement’s use of phrases like “use such unnecessary force and hostility” indicate genuine antipathy toward the cops.

But hold the applause, for it would be premature. Given the history of the NFL at its highest levels, we can’t gauge its sincerity. We’ve heard the most popular league in America float performative babble for years, talking the talk but consistently declining opportunities to walk the walk.

The NFL must live with its treatment of Kaepernick, who in a September 2016 ESPN poll was voted the NFL’s least popular player, even as his scarlet 49ers jerseys were selling faster than those of any other player, including Tom Brady.

Imagine how deep the roots of indifference must run for the NFL, which crawls toward every penny before kneeling at the altar of the dollar, to turn its back on a man representing its top-selling jersey.

After global protests following a white Minneapolis police officer’s public murder of Black citizen George Floyd in May 2020, the NFL decided to “support” social justice with tepid slogans and decals. The league already had blowtorched the careers of Kaepernick and those who joined his peaceful protest.

In September 2024, it’s not enough for one NFL team to say it stands with…


Source link : https://www.yahoo.com/news/hill-incident-dolphins-game-again-013512335.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-09-11 01:35:12

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