Today, we choose not to be quite so miserable right off the top, because wide receiver Andrew Hawkins said this to the assembled media who cover the Cleveland Browns after he was criticized for taking the field Sunday wearing a T-shirt that read, “Justice For Tamir Rice And John Crawford”. You may already have seen it, but this is presented in whole, with thanks to Hawkins:
“I was taught that justice is a right that every American should have. Also justice should be the goal of every American. I think that’s what makes this country. To me, justice means the innocent should be found innocent. It means that those who do wrong should get their due punishment. Ultimately, it means fair treatment. So a call for justice shouldn’t offend or disrespect anybody. A call for justice shouldn’t warrant an apology.
“To clarify, I utterly respect and appreciate every police officer that protects and serves all of us with honesty, integrity and the right way. And I don’t think those kind of officers should be offended by what I did. My mom taught me my entire life to respect law enforcement. I have family, close friends that are incredible police officers and I tell them all the time how they are much braver than me for it. So my wearing a T-shirt wasn’t a stance against every police officer or every police department. My wearing the T-shirt was a stance against wrong individuals doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons to innocent people.
“Unfortunately, my mom also taught me just as there are good police officers, there are some not-so-good police officers that would assume the worst of me without knowing anything about me for reasons I can’t control. She taught me to be careful and be on the lookout for those not-so-good police officers because they could potentially do me harm and most times without consequences. Those are the police officers that should be offended.
“Being a police officer takes bravery. And I understand that they’re put in difficult positions and have to make those snap decisions. As a football player, I know a little bit about snap decisions, obviously on an extremely lesser and non-comparative scale, because when a police officer makes a snap decision, it’s literally a matter of life and death. That’s hard a situation to be in. But if the wrong decision is made, based on pre-conceived notions or the wrong motives, I believe there should be consequence. Because without consequence, naturally the magnitude of the snap decisions is lessened, whether consciously or unconsciously.
“I’m not an activist, in any way, shape or form. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred I keep my opinions to myself on most matters. I worked extremely hard to build and keep my reputation especially here in Ohio, and by most accounts I’ve done a solid job of decently building a good name. Before I made the decision to wear the T-shirt, I understood I was putting that reputation in jeopardy to some of those people who wouldn’t necessarily agree with my perspective. I understood there was going to be backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down I felt like it was the right thing to do. If I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward, and I can’t live with that. God wouldn’t be able to put me where I am today, as far as I’ve come in life, if I was a coward.
“As you well know, and it’s well documented, I have a 2-year-old little boy. The same 2-year-old little boy that everyone said was cute when I jokingly threw him out of the house earlier this year. That little boy is my entire world. And the No. 1 reason for me wearing the T-shirt was the thought of what happened to Tamir Rice happening to my little Austin scares the living hell out of me. And my heart was broken for the parents of Tamir and John Crawford knowing they had to live that nightmare of a reality.
“So, like I said, I made the conscious decision to wear the T-shirt. I felt like my heart was in the right place. I’m at peace with it and those that disagree with me, this is America, everyone has the right to their first amendment rights. Those who support me, I appreciate your support. But at the same time, support the causes and the people and the injustices that you feel strongly about. Stand up for them. Speak up for them. No matter what it is because that’s what America’s about and that’s what this country was founded on.”
Note: I’m not interested in your politics; half the time, I’m barely interested in mine. But if you don’t understand the value of this, you don’t get it. You don’t get it at all.
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Now, back to why you came – the hatred.
Mickey Rourke, the one-time actor of repute who is now 62 and apparently mad as a brush, apparently not only had that “boxing match” in Russia we told you about last week against a homeless drifter, he (or his people) allegedly offered said drifter, Elliot Seymour, $15,000 to take a dive. And they’ve been late in paying.
Andrew Hawkins just threw up. And we threw up on his behalf.
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Anyone notice how few words have been devoted to the final two games of Tony Sparano’s coaching time in Oakland? At this point, it’s almost as if neither he nor the Raiders exist at all. So on behalf of their fans, who currently can’t even buy season tickets for next year, whatever deity or fictional character is in charge of the future (in the Marvel Universe, Tempo, in the DC Universe, Krypto the Dog), let them be relevant one time before they up and leave again.
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Published attendance figures at sporting events are notoriously dodgy thanks to teams who count things that look like tickets printed as actual attendees, but college football attendance is at its lowest level in 14 years, courtesy Jon Solomon at CBSSports.com (http://cbsprt.co/1vVGn8k) including three percent at Cal, six percent at Stanford and eight percent at San Jose State. I’m telling you, within five years, there will be only the SEC, Pac-12, Big Ten and various rogue states who play in Qatar at 3 a.m.
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Andrew Luck is stark staring nuts. Or he is diabolically clever. Or he lives in a world where My Little Pony is a documentary. Anyway, this, from Kevin Clark of the Wall Street Journal, on the nicest sack victim in the history of football: http://on.wsj.com/13qU75i. It’s not Andrew Hawkins, but what the hell, no coaches have been fired for stupid reasons yet today, so we go with what we have.
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And finally, the Federal Communications Commission is getting complaints about Tom Brady’s in-game language, but none about Johnny Manziel’s in-game experience. We have no issue with Manziel – first start, free-falling team, too much hype from whiny media types, and before you know it stuff happens – but let’s try to prioritize what outrages us here.
And don’t even start on Jay Cutler.
