The NFL announced earlier this year that players will be able to honor victims of systemic racism on their helmets during the 2020 season. Players can list the name of a victim of social injustice or a phrase on the bottom of their helmet.
The Falcons released the names of the 38 players who will participate this season and their chosen name or phrase.
“On my hat, I’m choosing for a decal, ‘Black Lives Matter’,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “So, you’ll see that on my hat.”
Among the participants, Matt Ryan will wear ‘It Takes All of Us,’ Julio Jones will wear ‘Aiyana Stanley-Jones,’ Todd Gurley will wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Grady Jarrett will wear ‘Breonna Taylor.’
Steven Means chose to wear the name of childhood friend Dennis “Ballie” Browning. In the announcement released by the Falcons, Means explained his decision.
“Coming from the inner city of Buffalo, I watched people get brutalized by the police regularly. Me and Dennis (Ballie) played little league football together and against each other. Ballie found himself in unfortunate situations trying to make money that landed him in jail.
"He called home after his family hadn’t heard from him and was once again beaten by the cops in prison. His family tried to gain media attention by letting the public know, but they didn’t recognize his story. A couple of years later he was found murdered in his prison cell. No inmate was found guilty of the crime. I want to represent his family.”
In addition to wearing the helmet decals, the team will make former politician John Lewis an honorary captain.
“With everything going on right now in the world, we thought it would be best to start off with somebody as legendary as John Lewis,” free safety Ricardo Allen said. "He’s done so much for …one of our biggest things that we want to stay connected with ... is the Voting (Rights) Act. We know that John Lewis, was a big part of that and a big ready why that is a part of the world today.
“To be able to tie that in with our team and be able to do it with such a great man as John Lewis, someone that I’ve been blessed enough to go down and do the Selma walk with myself. I was all in for it with him.”
Quinn instituted a social-justice committee on the team in 2017.
“My first role is listening and then supporting,” said Quinn, who marched in the Buckhead for Black Lives Matter march this summer. “So, for the players knowing that I have their back, not just listening and supporting, but demonstrating that support is such a big piece of it.”
The Falcons are not sure if they will kneel during the anthem or stay in the locker room.
“We are trying to find a way to respect everybody without it becoming a team battle," Allen said. "We want to find something that will bring us all together and be very unifying. We are still working on it.”
Here is the complete list:
Ricardo Allen: Stop Hate
Allen Bailey: Ahmaud Arbery
Christian Blake: Trayvon Martin
John Cominsky: It Takes All of Us
Marlon Davidson: Black Lives Matter
Darqueze Dennard: Black Lives Matter
Russell Gage: It Takes All of Us
Jaden Graham: Stop Hate
Todd Gurley: Black Lives Matter
Charles Harris: It Takes All of Us
Josh Harris: Stop Hate
Jaylinn Hawkins: Breonna Taylor
Matt Hennessey: Black Lives Matter
Brian Hill: End Racism
Sterling Hofrichter: Stop Hate
Grady Jarrett: Breonna Taylor
Julio Jones: Aiyana Stanley-Jones
Younghoe Koo: Stop Hate
Chris Lindstrom: Stop Hate
Alex Mack: It Takes All of Us
Justin McCray: Black Lives Matter
Kaleb McGary: Stop Hate
Steven Means: Dennis “Ballie” Browning
Keanu Neal: It Takes All of Us
Sharrod Neasman: Breonna Taylor
Isaiah Oliver: Ahmaud Arbery
Qadree Ollison: Black Lives Matter
Foye Oluokon: It Takes All of Us
LaRoy Reynolds: Joshua Johnson
Calvin Ridley: Black Lives Matter
Matt Ryan: It Takes All of Us
Ito Smith: Alton Sterling
Keith Smith: Black Lives Matter
A.J. Terrell: Black Lives Matter
Jacob Tuioti-Mariner: End Racism
Mykal Walker: It Takes All of Us
Blidi Wreh-Wilson: Breonna Taylor
Olemide Zaccheaus: It Takes All of Us
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