Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images / Agence France-Presse
The boss of the NFL, Roger Goodell
The boss of the professional league of american football, Roger Goodell apologized Friday for not having listened earlier to the players, asking that the proceeding to condemn racism and to support the protests, after the death of George Floyd.
“This has been a difficult period for our country. In particular, for the Blacks of our country. We, the NFL, condemn racism, and the systematic oppression of Black people. We have the NFL admit that we were wrong not to have listened to the players of the league earlier. We the NFL encourage everyone to express themselves and protest peacefully, ” said Goodell in a message circulated on social networks.
“We, the NFL, believe that the life of the Black account,” he added, echoing the slogan ” Black Lives Matter “.
Explore the chasm of socio-economic in the United States data and maps.
This intervention is a response to criticism of the league for his reaction on Saturday, several days after the tragedy that occurred on may 25 in Minneapolis, where she made no reference to racism or police brutality.
George Floyd, an African-American, 46 years old, died after his arrest by a white policeman, who pulled a knee on his neck for more than eight minutes.
This Thursday, several stars of the NFL, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who won the last Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Odell Beckham Jr, receiver of the Cleveland Browns, has released a video in which they demanded that the forum condemns the violence as racist and supportive of the protests.
“How many times must we ask you to listen to your players ? “asked Tyrann Mathieu (Chiefs). “What do you need ?” says DeAndre Hopkins (Arizona Cardinals), ” that one of us is killed by police brutality ? “adds Jarvis Landry (Browns).
Goodell had already been criticized for his handling of the protest movement initiated by the former star of the San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick, the first to have put his knee to the ground during the national anthem in 2016 to protest against the police violence done to the Blacks.
In the NFL, some 70 % of the players are black, but the leaders, referees and commentators and mostly white.
