Growing up, my life revolved around sports. I played them, I watched them, I listened to people bicker about them. I played basketball in my driveway trying to emulate players like Steve Nash, Lebron and Larry Bird. Whenever I played football in the backyard with my dad and brother, I would throw it imagining I was an elite-caliber player like Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, or catch the ball and dance in an imaginary end zone like I was Chad Johnson or Randy Moss.
Sports have played such an important role in my life, and the personalities of the athletes are a big reason that I enjoy them so much. Professional athletes were my role models growing up, and I feel comfortable saying they were some of the biggest influences in my life.
Athletes have always inspired me to work harder and be better in all areas of my life. That’s why to me it makes no sense why we tell athletes that they need to stick to sports. Why are we telling these highly influential people to essentially stay in their lane and “stick to what they know”? Why do athletes get called “sons of bitches” by the president of the United States for peacefully protesting - and I don’t think I can emphasize this enough - racial inequality, not the flag or the military?
Athletes are not objects for our affection. While what they do is entertaining, they are not toys that we get to see play just for our amusement. They are human beings, with thoughts and opinions that deserve to be heard just as much as any other person.
So I would like to encourage athletes to please not just stick to sports. Athletes have the ability to change so much. We shouldn’t be discouraging these players because they’re in the spotlight; we should be doing the exact opposite! They play an important role in our society, so why would we not them to be socially conscious about the world around them?
And it’s obvious how much influence these guys have. Lebron James’s “U bum” tweet at President Donald Trump criticizing him for rescinding his offer to the Warriors to visit the White House is one of the most liked tweets of all time, sitting at 1.5 million likes. Barack Obama, Ariana Grande, and Ellen Degeneres are the only three people who have had more liked tweets. When athletes speak, people listen!
When Colin Kaepernick took his infamous knee during the national anthem, he stayed true to what he believed in. When other athletes started to do it, both from other sports and from other races, they showed solidarity with him in protesting racial injustice. It cost him his job, for as of right now he is still not on an NFL roster. But by doing this he became a part of something bigger than himself, bigger than sports.
So here’s my call to action, athletes: don’t let his sacrifice go to waste. Please recognize that life is bigger than the game that you play, and that what you do both inside and outside of your sports has a real-world impact. Remember that there are kids out there that are just like me and look up to you guys as their whole world, playing basketball on the street pretending to be just like you.
Stand for something bigger than your sport. Because believe it or not, what you guys do is more than just a game.
