CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – In the wake of a summer of unrest and filled with videos that have gone viral depicting racial injustice, Baker Mayfield took a stand.
He will join his teammates that choose to take a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality as well as racial and social injustice.
“Right is right, and wrong is wrong,” Mayfield said. “There is a human rights issue that has been going on for a long time, and I believe in that. It is nothing against military or anybody who served. Anybody that knows my history knows that I completely support military and the people that serve our country for the right reasons and do it for justice.
“The people that do not know that, that is OK – just take your time and take a second to get to know me. It is a human rights issue. There is right, and there is wrong.”
Sunday afternoon Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam backed Mayfield and their players, many of whom grew up living the nightmare of racial profiling, discrimination or police brutality and were blessed to be able to use football to escape poverty.
“One of the great things about this country, one of the many great things, is the ability to have freedom of speech and being able to express yourself, so we are going support our players,” Jimmy Haslam said. “At the same time, I think all too much attention is called to whether somebody kneels or stands or what their statement is and not nearly enough attention is called to what they do afterward.
“Dee and I can issue some great statement, but what you all really ought to look at is what ourselves, our coaches and our players are doing the rest of the week, if you will, to make this country a better place to live, work and raise a family.”
The Browns are one of the most active organizations in the community in the NFL.
The Haslams launched the ‘Get 2 School, Stay in the Game’ campaign to fight chronic absenteeism statewide. They’ve spent millions to replace athletic fields for schools throughout northeast Ohio. The organization – players, coaches and front office – have engaged local law enforcement and had productive dialogue about building trust within troubled neighborhoods.
Jarvis Landry recently launched a foundation, joining several of his teammates who already had established one in their efforts to improve the quality of life in Cleveland as well as where they grew up or attended school.
Nevertheless, no matter what Mayfield, the players or Haslams say and do for their communities, the focus will be on kneeling, and misrepresenting the point that is being made.
“I think one of the unfortunate things in the country today is that there is not enough thoughtful dialogue,” Jimmy Haslam said. “There is just all of this condemnation from one side versus the other, rather than everybody trying to understand, ‘Well, why is that important to you, Baker? You are a thoughtful young man. You understand the ramifications.’
“We are going to be fully supportive of our players, no matter what they decide to do. We just ask that as a country we have a lot more thoughtful dialogue.”
Dee Haslam shares in her husband’s frustration.
“It is listening to each other and learning from each other,” Dee Haslam said. “I know Andrew Berry launched the #BeTheSolution campaign, and the biggest part of that was to listen and learn – listen to each other instead of just throwing somebody under the bus for not wanting to believe the way you want to. That is what makes our country great is we can be different, have different beliefs and be respectful about that.
“Somewhere along the line, we completely lost that respect, and the civil discourse, [the respect] is gone. Hopefully, we can get that back, and maybe we can be an example of that.”