After announcing the #Sayhername campaign Friday, Saints players used Sunday’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to draw attention to issues facing black women in America.
Players wore shirts with the slogan during warmups and some Saints including Sean Payton wore masks with the name of Breonna Taylor, a Kentucky woman who was killed by police.
Players showed a video on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome screen discussing the initiative.
“It is important to us,” Saints linebacker Demario Davis said. “Even though we get to play this great game, we are not going to stop talking about these issues and stop using our platform to bring awareness to these issues and using our resources to bring change in our community.”
Around the NFL, players and coaches have been calling attention to social, economic and political issues.
Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs players stood together in unity ahead of their opener, the Miami Dolphins released a video outlining their commitment to change, and some players have continued to protest during the national anthem by kneeling. Saints players, who were on the sideline during the national anthem Sunday, all stood. Davis said after the game that the team is focused on helping find solutions to issues that matter.
“I think at the end of the day, when you hear people say it was never about the flag, I say it was never about the flag for the people who had a problem with people speaking out about the issues,” he said. “The people were not mad because the players were speaking out on the issues. People were mad because players were speaking in general.
“You had players doing the unity stance and people booed. It’s never been about anything but wanting players to stay in a place and not wanting to speak on issues in the black community. I’m just proud of so many players across all leagues, the WNBA, NBA, MLB, NFL, taking a stance and using a platform for change, forcing the world and our country to have a conversation that we’ve never had. It’s being had in schools, it’s being had in churches. It's being had on every news station. And, it’s not going to go away until we fix these issues," said Davis.
“Maybe, eventually, we can get past race and start talking about something else, like maybe food or something.”
