The voices of athletes on social issues are greatly welcomed and needed ... as long as they take the liberal position. Athletes taking conservative positions? Not so much. Yet CNN sports writer AJ Willingham and her leftist pals say social justice warriors in sports are too often seen as less than human.
Willingham writes glowingly of woke athletes speaking and acting in the interests of social justice. Her blog decries how they are seen as less than human by fans, but she neglects to acknowledge the condemnation heaped on conservative figures for acting on their conscience:
"Players are both individuals and tools of the trade. The NFL is a billion-dollar business. Its players aren't just employees, they're money-makers; finely-hewn tools; quantifiable assets and, at times, liabilities. They're also people like any other, with opinions, emotions, concerns, and the American right to express them."
Willingham pointed out "that taking a knee on the sidelines has turned out to be a career-killer" for Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid (seen in photo), the two former 49ers who remain free agents. "Other players who have taken a knee have been vilified by the public." Conservative athletes have also paid a price for exercising their free speech rights, and they don't get any sympathy from sports media.
Former NFL player and coach Tony Dungy, now an NBC football analyst, was ripped by media for speaking at the Indiana family policy counsel in favor of marriage and for mentioning how Eagles' QB Nick Foles displayed his faith after winning the 2018 Super Bowl. Retired baseball player Lance Berkman supported a Texas bathroom bill, over the objections of USA Today and other media. They weren't called people with the right to express their views. Tim Tebow is "polarizing" for praying. No wonder conservative athletes keep quiet and go along just to get along.
There's a quote in the story by Stephen Mosher, an Ithaca College professor who specializes in sports and its intersection with culture and political resistance, supporting Willingham's points. He says, "Reconciling the athlete with the man isn't just a problem for the NFL. It's a problem for the fans. And that can invite mistrust and misunderstanding." Owners want to protect their brand and earn profits, "and in this way the players are simply a means to an end, and thus can be seen as less than human." Also, Mosher commented:
"The public simply has not done the work to see the players as anything but vehicles for their entertainment. Players in the 21st century simply have had enough of the 'gladiator thing' and are expressing themselves as human and citizens."
To which one can say sports media haven't done the work to allow conservative figures to be human citizens entitled to their views.
Another liberal influencing left-stream sports writers is Richard Lapchick, the founder and director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. He said he's been trying to coax athletes to speak out on social justice so they can be valued as real human beings.
Willingham also joined a growing chorus of woke sports media complaining about patriotic displays and military presence at football games. Before the athletes awoke, patriotism was "a great unifier in the NFL." But now flyovers and large flags are no longer "harmonized perfectly with a Sunday full of red-blooded American football." Now it's too political. I wrote about this previously when NBC Sports' Craig Calcaterra made the same point. ESPN's Howard Bryant wrote a whole book on this.
Additionally, Willingham complained about the new NFL policy requiring players to show respect during the playing of the national anthem. It uprooted the $89 million the NFL gave players for social justice activism, she says. "Some players didn't approve, either." The NFL Players Association filed a grievance challenging the policy. It's just another union that is out of step with its membership; the vast majority of NFL players were already showing respect for the anthem.
Willingham says it's becoming harder to stick to sports (especially when conservatives express their views on social issues!). "It's the favorite line of anyone who doesn't want to hear anything from an athlete if it isn't a play call. It's a hard line to live by as the divisiveness of the political climate grows."
Her friend Lapchick says social justice activism is not going away. "The athletes are going to continue to speak out, and that overall is going to have a positive impact."
