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  • 2017-10-24 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Black NFL Players 'Demand' that the NFL Force 'White Fans' Into Community Activism? (en)
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  • Amid an ongoing public debate over protests by National Football League players over social and racial injustice, a report emerged in October 2017 that four black players had given the league a sick ultimatum, in an effort to force white fans to engage in community activism. On 22 October 2017, the Freedom Daily web site published an article claiming: The article is centered around a memo reportedly sent to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell by four players: Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and wide receiver Torrey Smith; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett; and former Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin. In September 2017, Yahoo! Sports published what appears to be an authentic copy of the memo. However, Freedom Daily's description of it is grossly inaccurate and falsely claims that the four men gave the NFL an ultimatum (they did not), made demands (they did not), and that those demands related to fans (the memo did not once mention fans). Jenkins, Smith, Bennett, and Boldin wrote to Goodell to request (not demand) that the commissioner and the league lend their support to a coalition of players interested in community relations and activism, particularly in the areas of criminal justice reform and engagement with police. Specifically, the players suggested that the NFL could take part in visits to prisons, meetings with legislators on the state and national level, interviews and op-eds, engagement with nonprofit and grassroots organizations, and so on. The four players did request that the NFL dedicate the month of November to such activities, but asked that it serve as a month of Unity and community relations, in order to move the broader debate away from the national anthem protests. At no point in the memo published by Yahoo! Sports do the four players threaten Goodell, offer an ultimatum, or even allude to negative consequences in the event of his inaction or failure to support their efforts. Similarly, the memo contains no mention of fans (white or otherwise), or any obligations or expectations being placed on fans by the NFL. Therefore the two central claims in the Freedom Daily article are entirely false. Freedom Daily is a disreputable web site with a long history of sensationalist, inflammatory, and inaccurate reporting. (en)
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