On May 25th, George Floyd, a black man, was murdered as a white police officer knelt on his neck. His pleading for his life was ignored. The police officer, and the surrounding three officers, have yet to be arrested. Protests, some violent, are taking place in Minneapolis.
Oh, I'm sorry, were you expecting sports takes? Do you want me to talk about the Pirates game that didn't take place last night or the Penguins playoff series that's not currently in progress?
My bad.
You see, I've been told multiple times by listeners of my radio show, to "stick to sports."
I guess I shouldn't be getting into humanitarian issues. I shouldn't wade into the waters of a deeply emotional racial conversation.
I guess I'll "stick to sports."
That's the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles advocating for his fellow man and getting to the root of this issue. Institutional racism.
Whoops, sorry! I'm meandering away from sports again. Let me get to the Pirates...
That's Bucco shortstop Cole Tucker referring to the outrage about a police precinct being burned down during the protests in Minneapolis.
Damnit, I'm sorry. This is a sports blog. Let me turn to a former Steeler for an opinion on the biggest story of the day.
Well, jeez. My bad guys, I'm trying to stay out of the fray.
Here's the deal: Carson Wentz, Cole Tucker, and Roosevelt Nix are athletes, sure. They're people first. This isn't a political issue. This isn't a sports issue. This is a humanitarian one.
Roosevelt Nix is stating the obvious there. He can't do anything about the way he looks. He was born a black man in America.
A black man was murdered in broad daylight in the streets of Minneapolis. This man was being arrested for a nonviolent crime, not a capital offense. He didn't get to state his case in front of a jury of his peers. He didn't get to tell his side of the story. No, the police officer was the judge, jury, and executioner.
How is a man like Roosevelt Nix supposed to look at this and not worry about his friends and family?
Try as I might to simply stick to the sports discussion of the day, it appears that the topic that sports figures most want to discuss is the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests that have taken place.