Happy Black History Month.
Oh, Happy Black History month to you, too.
I appreciate all the white people celebrating.
They don't know who I am, but they clap for me anyway.
Oh, no.
They both think we're in the NFL.
You know what's interesting, it is
Black History Month, and the first day Tom Brady
announces his retirement.
Oh, gosh, yeah, I mean, and on the day,
or leading up to the Super Bowl--
Right.
--first two Black quarterbacks
in the Super Bowl ever.
And we also had.
[applause]
We also had over the weekend, what
I believe to be the Blackest moment in playoff history.
I don't know if you saw Patrick Mahomes' Daddy
on the sideline, Patrick Lavon Mahomes' Daddy
on the sideline.
Oh, I loved it.
It sounded so much like my Black uncles, it was.
When you say, his middle name?
Oh, Lavon.
Then it's going to be Black.
Oh, yeah, it was the familiar din of a Black uncle.
It was it was.
It sounded like a like a leather baseball cap and--
It's the Blackest Super Bowl ever!
Oh, oh.
So good.
That's the kind of dude come over, you hide the jewelry.
Said, I'm not going on that Joe Burrow.
Sounded just like my uncle.
But it is, it's historic, two Black quarterbacks
starting for the first time.
What does that mean to you?
You're a former player, what does that mean to you?
I mean, I think it represents,
I hate the word progress, but it does kind
of represent some progress.
I mean, there's lots of other things in the NFL
and in the world, frankly, that we need to work towards.
But one thing that we've had to finally accept,
is Black quarterbacks are perfect leaders,
perfect quarterbacks, and--
The problem was that they didn't think
they had the intelligence.
[applause]
I think it's one, about the intelligence.
And the leadership.
And also, and the leadership, and it's also
about y'all, like frankly.
It's about what the quarterback represents on the football
team is something that white people and America in general
were never comfortable with seeing
a Black person represent that.
So it's been great to see.
Not only have so many successful Black quarterbacks,
and we saw even some quarterbacks
that are Black that aren't good,
which is showing progress too.
We could be just as shitty as you guys.
I mean, that is progress.
But the most like exciting thing about it,
is the future of the league, the best
quarterback that I think any of us
have ever seen is Patrick Mahomes.
I think, I've never seen anybody be
able to do the things he does.
Now, you got to, of course, you got
to be great over a long period of time,
because there are people who started out that way.
I thought what Cam Newton was doing was remarkable.
And then you see what happens.
It's interesting, because we talk about football,
and there's a marked difference between the way
players in the NFL are treated and the way players in the NBA
are treated.
And I think primarily, it is the ownership.
I think that the ownership in the NFL
has a decidedly different view of their commodity
than the NBA does.
Like, you would never see an NFL, NBA owner
talk to a major star like NFL.
If somebody talked to LeBron James
like they talk to some of these stars, it would be over.
Yeah, I mean, LeBron James has a disproportionate amount
of power.
But like, singling out the NFL and trust me,
I'm not going to be up here defending the NFL,
but the NFL exists in our society.
And frankly, NFL is no different
than any other workplace.
Absolutely, right.
And so like the hierarchy that exists in the NFL,
it's like it's going to be Blacker at the bottom,
or minorities at the bottom.
And you go up higher and higher and there's less risk,
there's less danger, there's less injury,
there's less pain, but there's more money,
there's more success, there's more protection.
And that's like, that's true in the NFL.
And frankly, that's true in the NBA.
That's true-- - Everywhere.
Everywhere that's y'all work, it's true.
It's true in this building.
Sorry, they may not have me back.
- Not in this building. - Yeah, yeah, OK.
Not today.
Yeah, not today.
It's interesting, because we watched,
when I watch what happened to Hamlin on the field,
I was personally like, like, because I watch football
a very long time, and I'm sure you've seen a lot of injuries.
I don't know that I've ever seen anything like that.
Yeah.
And the way that the players reacted, it was hurtful.
I mean, obviously, you were sad that somebody
was suffering there, but it was such a beautiful human moment.
Because the NFL got to be human.
Yeah.
Like the coaches, were like, we ain't playing this game.
And the owners are like, yes, you are.
Exactly.
So you got to see men that just were empathic
and just men who were crying and praying.
And not because they won or they
lost, because they were praying for somebody who was in need.
I played for, I played a long time.
I was in a game where a player got paralyzed on the field
and he was taken off.
We waited five minutes, warmed up, and played again.
All right.
I played in a preseason game where a player died
in the locker room afterwards.
Like, I've been around some ugly parts of football.
But to your point, I've never seen anything like--
What do you think was different about that?
That particular play, his heart stopped on the field.
I mean, but we've seen people pass out,
we've seen people have, but there was something different
about that that made, because I didn't think
it was all that bad at first.
Right, none of us did.
Hell, I passed out during COVID, so.
But there was the way, because I think that people are used
to certain types of injuries or seeing
certain types of things, but that scared everybody.
Yeah, the reaction from the players
really like scared all of us.
And I think this all goes back to the original conversation
that we were having about like American culture
and the hierarchy that exists is, you show up
at those games as a player, and you
know that there is no limit to the risk that you're taking.
- Right. - Awful things can happen.
Why would you do it, though?
Well, you do it because you grow up,
so when you were a kid and you want to play football,
you decide before you're like of clear mind.
And then you show a propensity for it.
And people just keep pushing you along,
keep pushing you along.
And nothing's wrong with that.
And frankly, when I came up, we were unaware of the CTE stuff.
That came out while I was in the league.
Would that have changed your mind?
I like to think it would, but I doubt that it would.
And to be honest with you, I don't begrudge
any of the players now for participating
in a game knowing the risks that it takes.
The thing that frustrates me, is
there is a cap on the amount of money
they can make, on the amount of like health care
they can receive.
The league negotiates for a cap on that.
But on the other side, the owners,
the coaches, the general managers, there's no cap on--
But that's up to the players really,
because there's a sense that if NFL players didn't play,
that shit would be rugby.
Right, yeah.
And I think the goal is to make you pretend
like you don't have a choice or believe
you don't have a choice.
You go to some of the finest institutions of higher
learning on the face of the Earth, you went to Harvard,
you're a very bright man.
But to make you believe that you're beholden to a thing
because in your mind, it's the biggest game in town.
So, I agree, and I understand.
So to be clear, I went to Harvard Business School.
I'm a Terp through and through, first of all.
But the first--
He's down playing Harvard.
Yeah, man.
I know somebody went to the New School.
Let me tell you--
[cheering]
I would say that, quality call back.
Harvard is no New School, let me tell you that.
Quality callback.
Now, I would say that I get your point.
And I'm sorry to sound like a broken record,
but like we all exist in this society.
And I think the players as a whole, solidarity is power.
Absolutely.
If they stop playing, you can get what you want.
And all of us can get the things that we
want if we band together.
But the challenging thing about negotiating with the owners,
it's the same thing that we all face,
is trying to change a system that's entrenched.
The people who are already in power in that situation.
So if you are to strike if you're a player, if you're
a group of players to get what you want,
that's essentially a war of attrition.
The Commanders, the Washington Football Team, it's reported
going to sell for $8 billion.
Right.
How do players win a war of attrition against them?
And then you compound that by the fact
that we get pressure from everywhere.
Sure.
No one comes down, so rarely, I
think it's changing some now, but so rarely
do fans come down on the owners when there's an issue.
Not at all.
They mad at the players all the time.
Because that's the face, or they can't even see the face,
because they have a helmet on.
I think you guys have a tremendous amount of pressure
on you externally, because if you are an athlete,
people aspire to be.
And there's a amount of external pressure
that society from a civic perspective,
from a cultural perspective, from activism perspective.
And it's really important, because the only time
generally they see Black people would be running,
jumping, singing or dancing. - Yeah.
It really is.
It's the only time we have everybody's rapt attention.
And so how do you balance the fact
that you are a professional, you have commitments,
you have to, you're obligated to,
but you still have a commitment to making
things better for a community?
And so it's unfair, but that's life.
It's unfair that responsibility falls on Black players,
because it doesn't fall on white players.
Like, no one has this expectation of white players
to do the same thing.
But as Black players, they all know that that expectation
falls on them.
But I think Howard Bryant wrote a great book
called The Heritage, about the history
of activism and athletes.
And it's changed.
The position of the players and activism has changed.
And I think that it's incumbent on us
as spectators and people who care about it, to understand
that athletes aren't activists anymore
as much as they are like flashlights.
Right.
There are not entrenched in the fight
in the way that say Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was,
which is fine.
So when they get an opportunity and they
say, look over at Tyre Nichols, then it's our job to jump in.
Because we can't expect them to commit themselves
to being the best in the world, and then
also commit themselves to be on top
of the latest reading and the latest
like social justice strategy.
But it's really self-preservation.
Virtually every skill set that got you on that field will get
you, what makes you a hero on Sunday,
will make you a target on Monday.
If you're big, you're fast, you're strong,
and you're Black on Sunday, that's an attribute.
On the streets of this country, it is a detriment.
So it is self-preservation.
There's one, there's only one standard I have.
Do what you can to the best of your ability.
Do what you can for as long as you can for all that you can.
And I think that one thing I will say about you,
even if I got a chance to meet you,
I love how erudite you are.
I love how nuanced are.
Because most things aren't just black and white.
And I love how you don't just depend on your physicality.
You have never just depended on that.
But I hated how you played, you said, I went to, I'm a Terp!
Nobody would ever put Maryland above Harvard on any resume!
I would.
But it ain't no New school.
You've seen that there's a pretty broad continuum
of experience between the way the NFL was then
and it is now.
Are you more heartened or more disappointed
by the direction it's going?
Yeah, um, I think that's a tough question.
I think I am-- that's
Why I'm here, baby, come on now.
Yeah.
I think that it's not about the NFL.
And I'm guilty of this as much as anybody else,
is we think of the NFL as a single entity, which
like yeah, it's an institution, but the NFL
is made up of a bunch of different things.
And the most important entity in the NFL is the players.
And so that like gives me optimism, because I've never
been more impressed, more excited, more invigorated
by not only the talent, but the perspective and the engagement
of these players.
We talked about Patrick Mahomes and how he's the best
quarterback in football right now, and on a trajectory to be
one of the best of all time.
He spoke out.
He was one of the first faces in that video
about Colin Kaepernick.
And I know that Colin Kaepernick is not
back in the league, but the idea
that a Black quarterback who can obviously avoid
this conversation if he wants to, like that opportunity
is presented to him time and time again and he does not.
And that's an example to everyone else.
And players like Lamar Jackson, who
are willing to be outspoken and fight for players,
Like all of these players in the league.
And it's not just the Black players,
it's the white players also.
Like the league is in so much better
place because of the players.
And if only the players like really
understood it and appreciated it.
There's a vested interest in making
sure you don't realize it.
Everything you have, you have because somebody
that look like you sacrificed.
That's why you have it.
You want to lead the union?
I don't even pay my dues.
What would the, you're older now, you have a family,
you've been married, you've lived in various places,
you've seen the world.
What would the adult you tell the rookie
you, the wide-eyed youth, the wide-eyed kid
that walking freely, what would you tell you?
Have as much fun as you can.
Oh, no, that's a different conversation,
that's an off-camera conversation, my bad, my bad.
That's for when the cameras go off.
No, I think the most important
thing is to get as many different experiences
as possible.
And we are so focused and we're celebrating.
I did a bunch of ESPN stuff today
celebrating Tom Brady's career, and his career
deserves to be celebrated. - Absolutely.
It was great.
And part of the reason why it was so great,
was because it appeared to me that nothing
else was more important than football to him.
And that's fine, if you can be Tom Brady.
Not everybody can be Tom Brady.
And I know that having all these other experiences,
the tough thing about being a player in professional sports,
is your skills aren't applicable anywhere else.
No.
So if you don't hit that home run,
and this goes back to like the challenge for being a player
versus in the ownership class.
If you are a player and you play three to four years, then
the league minimum goes up and you're out
of the league and your experience, I mean,
sets you up to be a bouncer.
Like you are in a tough situation.
Right.
So like one of the things that I did, and I would
encourage all the players to do,
is get involved in the Union as much as possible.
Like, that helped open my mind to how
many other opportunities there were out there in the world.
Get involved in community things, obviously.
And also, like when you have time,
one of the things that we negotiated
was for a longer offseason.
Sure.
Use that off season to go do something else.
It'll make you a better football player,
it'll make you a better person, it'll make you
a better husband and father.
I just, I dig talking to you, but I'll tell you this.
I want you to understand this.
[applause]
I truly want you to understand this.
Most of the men who were on that football field
go to the finest institutions of higher
learning in the world.
It is not their physical attributes, it is their minds.
And when you understand that your mind is the most valuable
piece of real estate on the face of the Earth, they
can't beat you, they can't.
It is not your body.
Your body will fail you way before your mind does.
You are here not because of your physical,
you may think that because you hurt yourself you're here.
But your mind was ready.
And these, maybe I'm just, I got a GED, so who am I to say,
but if you go to college, drop by a class
every once in a while, you know what I'm saying?
It ain't got to be the New School, but it can be.
Domonique, Domonique Foxworth.
Be sure to check out his new podcast,
The Domonique Foxworth Show.