Leading the Charge
Our union stands with all of its NFL player members as they support their communities, work to inspire positive change and fight against systemic racism & injustice.
Black History Month 2022: The Forgotten Four
One year before Jackie Robinson integrated Major League Baseball, four men blazed a trail on the gridiron by re-integrating the NFL in 1946. Their strength and solidarity -- all in the face of racist attacks and injustice -- forever changed the landscape of pro football, serving as the shoulders that so many players of color stand on today.
SOCIAL JUSTICE TASKFORCE
This committee of NFLPA staff exists to provide our player members with informational resources to combat social injustice, amplify their collective voices and connect them with stakeholders to support their efforts to create positive change.
Our mission is to be a trusted resource for our members as they engage their communities through social action.
THE NARRATIVE
The narrative begins to change when players start telling their side of the story. We talked to NFL players about their perspectives on important social justice topics like kneeling, racial profiling and having The Talk. Listen below to hear what they had to say.
INJUSTICE AGAINST ONE OF US IS INJUSTICE AGAINST ALL OF US
In August 2020, the NFLPA and Executive Committee member Michael Thomas came together to find a way for NFL players to demonstrate their collective voice against racism in the United States after the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and countless other people of color. What resulted was a league-wide initiative that saw players from all 32 teams wear Nike T-shirts in support of social justice during Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season.
It’s a brotherhood in the NFL, everybody was supporting the message. All of us want to end racism [and] want true justice in this country. For all of us to come together, be on the same page, trying to share the same message on game day, that was huge.
#BlackLivesMatter
-
Austin Bryant + Travis Fulgham
-
Brennan Scarlett
-
Davontae Harris
-
Dwayne Haskins Jr.
-
Alex Okafor + Kenny Vaccaro
-
Deshaun Watson
-
Isaac Rochell
-
Jamal Adams
-
Jurrell Casey
-
Cam Jordan
-
DJ Chark
-
Doug Middleton + Shaq Thompson
-
Emmanuel Moseley
-
Equanimeous St. Brown
-
Fred Warner
-
Eric Smith, Chris Peace, Andrew Brown
-
Jerry Jeudy
-
Romeo Okwara
-
Tye Smith
-
Von Miller
-
Marcus Allen
-
Ricardo Allen
-
Rodney Mcleod
-
Tre Boston
-
Keelan Cole, Ryquell Armstead, DJ Chark, Leonard Fournette, Chris Conley, Rodney Gunter
-
Malik Jackson
-
Malik Reed
-
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
This video includes scans of the original Houston newspaper that printed General Gordon Granger's General Order No. 3–the Juneteenth proclamation freeing all the slaves in Texas and thus in the entire United States. It also includes the Texas newspaper which published Lincoln's entire Emancipation Proclamation upon which the Juneteenth General Order No. 3 is predicated. The NFLPA thanks Mark Mitchell for these incredible pieces of history. To view more pieces from Mark Mitchell's collection, click here.
NFL players honor leaders in Black history from former NFL player Alan Page, to Barack Obama, to Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Founder Bryan Stevenson–all of whom served as trailblazers.
NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith shared his thoughts on the June 1, 2020 episode of ESPN's Get Up: