What started with the Milwaukee Bucks setting the stage Wednesday turned into an unprecedented evening of player protest against racial injustice, and particularly protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their first-round NBA series. MLB teams from Milwaukee to Cincinnati to Seattle, San Diego, and more followed. Atlanta United and Inter Miami CF also abandoned their MLS match.
“So much has happened over the last 15 hours from when we left walk-through and into today,” Quinn said before the Atlanta Falcons hit the practice field Thursday. “It goes to show again that sports can have a meaningful role in our country and the power in unity. To me, we are definitely in a movement. And for us, I think this is a chance for us to listen and [create a] space to do that as a team. I look forward to doing that.”
How does Quinn plan to create and then utilize this space? The head coach said the team has been talking since spring, having conversations around these topics. But he still wants more.
“I think certainly coming from my end of things, how as a white coach can I become a better ally? Because the stories that you heard bothered you so much to say ‘Hey man, I support’ just wasn’t enough. Learning about experiences that have taken place and hearing about those, those really bothered me deep down. I just want to get to the space to say ‘just saying I support you isn’t enough.’ That, to me, is saying ‘What does that look like? What does an ally look like in this space, because I wanted to have a bigger role.”
Jarvis Davis contributed reporting for this story.