Tommy Tuberville has spent most of his life working in football as a coach, most notably as head coach of Auburn from 1999-2008, but now as a U.S. Senator from Alabama, he has some advice for the incoming rookies on the day of the NFL Draft:
Stick to sports.
The Republican told TMZ earlier this week that “nobody’s looking for an outspoken person.”
“We’re too divided as it is,” he said.
It is quite a curious message coming from Tuberville, who did not stick to sports himself and became a U.S. Senator.
“Everybody wants to make an opinions and that’s fine,” Tuberville said. “But, I think, especially for young people to get involved in something that maybe they might not understand as much, I think they need to. Let people that, whatever they do for a living, justify it.”
Many professional athletes have used their platform to speak out on racial and social issues that impact them, their families and their communities that they come from — giving them a voice that they may not normally have received.
Tuberville says he just wants to see “our country more settled down in terms of people getting into politics or in sports and vice versa.”
This may be wishful thinking on Tuberville’s part as any of these collegiate athletes have already taken active roles within their communities and speaking out on issues off the field.
For instance, projected No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, who helped organize a peaceful demonstration at Clemson to show support for Black Lives Matter and an end to systemic racism last summer.
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