The NFL has established a player-owner committee focusing on social and racial justice initiatives that Commissioner Roger Goodell cautions
is just a start
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Jerseys , with lots of work ahead.
Goodell credited ”unprecedented dialogue” for helping players and owners get to the point of Tuesday’s announcement. He said the committee will focus on
education, economic development, community and police relations and the criminal
justice system.
”We feel that we are going to make significant progress as we have more meetings, as we get more focused on our efforts, it’s going to actually come to
life,” Goodell said. ”And frankly, we will get better as the days go by.”
The league also said Tuesday it is beginning a ”Let’s Listen Together” campaign that includes digital content and commercials highlighting player-led
work on equality issues. That platform will include social media support and
letters from players and owners.
Owners on the committee are Arizona’s Michael Bidwill, Atlanta’s Arthur Blank, Jacksonville’s Shahid Khan, Cleveland’s Jimmy Haslam and Miami’s Stephen
Ross. Current players Chris Long, Josh Norman, and Kelvin Beachum, Pro Football
Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams and former player Anquan Boldin are on the
committee.
Blank said he was impressed with the consensus among owners and players at a meeting in December at the league office. The Falcons owner also sees these
issues requiring sustainability.
”Clearly, we’re not at the end of the fourth quarter,” Blank said.
This season, many players took knees during the national anthem to protest social and racial injustice, drawing rebukes from President Donald Trump.
Boldin says the initiative should be ”celebrated” because the NFL is the ”first professional league or entity that has taken the concerns of its players
and put resources behind it.”
”We’re dedicated to making a difference in our communities,” Boldin said. ”We’re dedicated to seeing a difference in our criminal justice system. We’re
dedicated to educating not only ourselves, but the public as well how there are
different biases when it comes to our criminal justice system. We’re excited
about the partnership and the backing of the NFL that we have now.”
Linebacker Demario Davis of the New York Jets thanked owner Chris Johnson for sitting down with players and supporting them during sessions that included
meetings with public defenders.
Defensive end Long credited Eagles teammate Malcolm Jenkins for his work and socially conscious team owner Jeffrey Lurie for his support as they work for
”common sense reforms.”
Long noted Jenkins rounded up some of the Eagles for a trip to the state capital to meet with lawmakers hours after a Monday night game. He said some of
the Eagles also have met Philadelphia police and attended bail hearings, which
he called an arbitrary process.
”We do have a powerful voice,” Long said.
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The only thing that Saquon Barkley has to prove at the NFL combine this week is that he’s every bit as good as advertised.
”For a guy like Barkley who has worked so hard to develop his gifts, I mean, for him it ought to be a victory celebration. It really should,” NFL Network
analyst Mike Mayock said. ”You got to come in and knock it down, one drill after
another.
”He’s going to walk out of there four days later and everyone’s going to go: `Wow, he’s just as good or better than we thought he was.”’
Then, there would be no doubt that a running back will go in the top five picks of the draft for the third consecutive year, joining Ezekiel Elliott in
2016 and Leonard Fournette in 2017.
The Penn State star might even be the first running back selected in the top two picks since Reggie Bush in 2006 or even the first to go No. 1 overall since
another Nittany Lion, Ki-Jana Carter, in 1995.
”I’m just focused on coming out here and trying to dominate this combine,” Barkley said.
Everyone expects him to do just that.
General managers and coaches know all about the 5-foot-11, 233-pound back with a magnificent medley of jaw-dropping quickness and excellent acceleration,
speed, balance, vision and power to go with an off-the-charts work ethic who
helped Penn State dismantle Washington’s vaunted defense in the Fiesta Bowl
.
Mayock said Barkley will dazzle teams even when he’s not on his feet.
”When he goes into meetings at night,” Mayock said
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Barkley, who grew up boxing like his father and great uncle but was always drawn more to the gridiron than the ring, quickly rose to national prominence as
one of the country’s most dynamic players as a true freshman at Penn State in
2015.
He flashed a frenetic running style to compile a lengthy highlight reel full of hurdles, spin moves and jukes on his way to a program-best 43 rushing
touchdowns in three years.
Mayock said Barkley is at least equal to the last four top-10 running backs – Fournette, Elliott, Todd Gurley and Christian McCaffrey – all of whom made their
teams significantly better as rookies.
”I could make the case that this kid Barkley is the best of those guys, best of all five of them,” Mayock said. ”He’s clean off the field. And he’ll be great
in your locker room. I would be absolutely stunned if this kid doesn’t go in the
Top 5.”
The Browns, Giants and Colts own the top three picks in next month’s draft. Cleveland also owns No. 4 and Denver has the fifth selection.
”Any team that wants to draft me,” Barkley said, ”is a blessing to me.”
Barkley said he embraces the chance to transform a downtrodden team like the Browns, who have one win in two years, or the Giants, coming off a down year:
”You want to be part of something like that, something that’s bigger than
yourself.”
Whoever ends up choosing Barkley can expect to be picking a lot later in next year’s draft. (Fournette’s Jaguars are picking 29th this year, five picks after
McCaffrey’s Panthers).
Barkley averaged nearly 6 yards a carry as a junior in State College, rushing for 1,271 yards and 18 touchdowns and catching 54 passes for 632 yards and three
TDs. He also completed two passes – one for a score – and returned two kickoffs
for touchdowns.
He won the Paul Hornung Award as college football’s most versatile player and left Penn State after his junior year just 89 yards shy of the program rushing
record with 3,843 yards.
”I feel whether I’m running the ball from the 99-yard line or the 1-yard line that I can find a way to get into the end zone. I can do it all, I feel like,”
Barkley said. ”I can go over the top of you, I can beat you with speed, I can
beat you with some wiggle, I could run through you.”
That may come off as boastful, but not when Barkley says it.
He said he watches all of today’s great NFL running backs but models his game after none of them.
”I’ve never wanted to be like anybody,” Barkley said. ”That’s something that my dad taught me growing up: `Never want to be like someone, be the next you.’
But I am a fan of the game, I’m a fan of the position and I watch everyone.”
Including Barry Sanders on YouTube .
If he had to pick anyone he’d like to be like, it’d be the Lions’ Hall of Famer.
”That was a great guy that I looked up to growing up not only on the field – off the field. The way he carried himself, he was humble,” Barkley said. ”When
he scored a touchdown, he’d give the ball to the ref. If you look at his
football life, he’s carrying cups to his offensive linemen, and I think that’s
what a running back should be about. That’s what our position should be about
and I try to model myself after that.”
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