DeSean Jackson wears custom police protest cleats during Week 4 (Photo)
Washington Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson is wearing controversial cleats to protest police brutality, and has the full support of his team.
It all started with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee in a preseason game, and it has mushroomed into broader protests throughout all of sports. Kaepernick opened the door for other NFL players to stage protests of their own to combat police brutality and the current state of affairs in America, and DeSean Jackson is fully on board.
He raised a fist during the National Anthem last week, and this Sunday he’s going a step further. Jackson is wearing custom cleats that are wrapped in police tape as a form of protest. It’s not quite as outrageous as Kaepernick’s pig socks, but it’s also further evidence that Jackson has more to say about the things that are happening in society.
Jackson released a statement to further clarify that he wasn’t protesting all police, rather he was protesting the current state of affairs in the country.
“Today is the start of my attempts to be part of a solution and start dialogue about the senseless killings of both citizens and police. I have chosen to wear these cleats in pregame today to use my platform as a pro athlete to add to this discussion. This isn’t meant to be any kind of protest against the good men and women in law enforcement in this country. I just want to express my concern in a peaceful and productive way about issues that are currently impacting our country.”
It’s a little unfortunate that protests have to be supplemented with statements that clarify to the layman what the protest is about. That’s not a poor reflection of the protest so much as it is trying to get the message through to people before the narrative is hijacked and turned into something else.
Desean Jackson's cleats have a caution tape design on them. #Redskins pic.twitter.com/fjiL44e9hE
— dckerNBC4 (@dckerNBC4) October 2, 2016
Washington released a statement fully supporting Jackson’s protest, stating that they support local law enforcement equally.
“We stand in support of both DeSean and the law enforcement community. We have great respect for law enforcement and the sacrifices they make each and every day to protect and serve our communities. We continue to have open dialogue with our players about issues that are important to them and support their efforts to bring awareness to those issues when done in a responsible manner.”
When you think of progressive franchises in sports, Washington is pretty low on the list. But they’re doing the right thing for once in a while by throwing their support fully behind Jackson. They’re doubling down by making sure they say they’re supporting police but that there highlights that this isn’t an issue of right and wrong where sides need to be definitively chosen. We just want change.
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