Photo Credit: Diane Weiss / Stringer
They say money talks—and according to sources, Detroit Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford is doing whatever she can to ensure that players don’t #TakeaKnee in light of social injustice and police brutality:
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Press reports that “in exchange for finding a different way to protest racial injustices around the country, Ford said she would be willing to donate both money and her name to community issues at the heart of the players’ cause.”
Meanwhile, it was also reported that Ford did indeed lock arms with players before their game against the Falcons, in which they lost. Did the loss lead to a change of heart about the movement altogether?
Lions defensive end Cornelius Washington tells the press:
“She just asked us not to take the knee and basically told us – not basically, she told us she would back and support financially as well as put her name on whatever issues that we wanted to try to attack,” Washington said. “But as far as the kneeling, she just I guess felt like there was better ways to get the point across. And at this point, people know what we’re kneeling for so now trying to take that next step in the plan of action to foster change is, that’s the next part and that’s the part she’s willing to get behind.”
DETROIT MI – NOVEMBER 22: Detroit Lions owner and chairman Martha Firestone Ford talks to head football coach Jim Caldwell. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
TELL US: What other tactics will be used to stop players from making a statement by kneeling?
