Malcolm Jenkins didn’t protest during the national anthem before the Eagles and Falcons kicked off the NFL season last week. He didn’t raise a fist, as he’s done in the past. Didn’t stay in the tunnel, as was the case before a preseason game. And he’s never knelt.
Yet the Eagles safety continues to get his message out. During pregame warmups, he has worn T-shirts – and inspired teammates to do likewise – blaring enlightenment. Last week his shirt read, “Ca$h bail = poverty trap.”
On Tuesday, Jenkins and teammate Chris Long released a powerful, 90-second video on social media that expanded on that theme. They opened by narrating examples of human victims. They gave a quick primer on the bail system and hammered home that too many people – 70% of those in jail, they contend, have not been convicted – are too poor to purchase freedom before their trials. They concluded their presentation by urging the end of the cash bail system.
Talk about impact players.
Jenkins, 30, one of the co-founders of the Players Coalition, has taken his activism in myriad ways beyond protests – during minicamp, he even stood silent at his locker displaying poster boards with hand-written messages – as a means of advancing his causes while minimizing controversy.
That’s not to suggest that Colin Kaepernick, the man who used the NFL stage to launch a national conversation about police killings of unarmed African-Americans and other social injustices, wasn’t effective in kneeling in protest during the anthem. Jenkins has just taken a different track. This is not about either-or … although you’d suspect it is for the revenue-and-image-conscious NFL.
“Everyone has their own passions and convictions,” Jenkins told USA TODAY Sports. “I never try to tell anyone to do what I’m doing. The biggest thing is that everybody knows what the message is and why we’re having a conversation about it. As best we can, we’re trying to push attention toward specific things.”
With the NFL still lacking a hardline policy this season, backing off a measure that owners passed in May (while continuing to discuss the matter with the players’ union), player protests during the anthem were scarce during the first week of regular-season games. That’s pretty much what happened a year ago, too, before President Trump’s infamous “get that son of a bitch off the field” declaration sparked more demonstrations and, strikingly, more interest from NFL owners in supporting players on addressing social issues.
The Week 1 scorecard: Jenkins’ teammate, defensive end Michael Bennett, took a seat on the bench toward the end of anthem. Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch did not stand for the song before Monday's game against the Rams. In Denver, Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas and linebacker Brandon Marshall remained in the locker room. In Miami, Dolphins defensive end Robert Quinn raised a fist, as is his custom, while receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson knelt.
In a league with nearly 2,000 players, just two players knelt. NFvL crisis in check?
That two players knelt – while Kaepernick and Eric Reid, the former San Francisco 49ers safety who knelt at his side, pursue collusion grievances against the NFL – was also important.
In the face of potential backlash and controversy, at least Stills (who has knelt for two years) and Wilson had the freedom to express themselves. That’s the American way.
While Jenkins and others are to be commended for their social efforts, the fact that two Dolphins took a knee was a reminder of the plight of Kaepernick and Reid.
Kaepernick is featured in the moving Nike ad campaign, but he still doesn’t have a job in the NFL. That’s plain wrong. Did you see Nathan Peterman get a chance to open the season as the Buffalo Bills starter? Now Peterman has been benched. Again.
Reid, also in his prime years, can’t latch on with a team. The Falcons sure can use a safety, with Keanu Neal done for the season with a torn ACL.
Signing Kaepernick and Reid for legitimate opportunities would be quite a message about now.
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