The Patriots were in action against the Bears last week at the same time the Eagles and Panthers squared off.
Which meant that Devin McCourty didn’t see the pregame confrontation between Carolina’s Eric Reid and Philadelphia’s Malcolm Jenkins.
But McCourty saw it later and also read the things Reid said about Jenkins, one of the leading members of the Players Coalition. Reid, who described the coalition in September as an “NFL-funded subversion group” called Jenkins a “sellout.”
McCourty, one of the 12 governing members of the coalition, thought the disparagement was unfair and the public nature of it was damaging.
“Why there?” McCourty said of the confrontation. “Sunday game? National television? Why show division and almost prove to people who want to say, ‘These players aren’t really united in their cause'? It gave people who have that assumption a chance to say, ‘See, we were right.’
“That was bad timing and not the place because it showed division amongst us as players when, at the end of the day, we are all players trying to do great things for the community. To use the phrase ‘sellout’ was totally false. There is nothing that Malcolm or the coalition has done that was selling out.”
During the 2016 preseason, Colin Kaepernick began sitting during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality and oppression. When Kaepernick changed his form of protest to kneeling after a conversation with former NFL player and retired Green Beret Nate Boyer, Reid knelt with Kaepernick.
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Inspired by Kaepernick, Jenkins mobilized others -- including McCourty -- to demonstrate support for the cause during the anthem. A movement grew as Reid and Kaepernick were joined by dozens of like-minded players.
But when the NFL agreed in November 2017 to meet with the players in Dallas to discuss what would be an $89 million social justice partnership, Reid left the Players Coalition after disagreeing with the details of the deal. Kaepernick remained unsigned, and Reid felt that getting Kaepernick back in the league and having him head discussions should be a priority.
According to a story by Jim Trotter of The Undefeated, “The majority of coalition members disagreed. While sympathetic and supportive of Kaepernick’s fight to secure employment through a grievance he filed against the league, the players still thought the focus should remain on the big picture.”
The Players Coalition went on without Reid, Kaepernick and a few other players, like Kenny Stills and Russell Okung, who had misgivings about being aligned with the NFL.
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Reid himself went unsigned until late September, when the Panthers picked him up. When Reid confronted Jenkins during the coin flip, it was obvious the schism hasn’t healed.
“Those guys were fully aware of the communication back and forth with the league trying to strike a deal,” said McCourty. “There was a group of players in the coalition that have spent their own time and money to do some of the things that we’ve done. I don’t see the ‘sellout’ part.
“Malcolm’s name has been out front but it’s always been about the work, not the guy,” he added. “With so many great things going on and Malcolm being the co-founder (along with Anquan Boldin), when something like this comes out you have to have his back and say that that accusation is false so that people don’t diminish or lose focus on the work being done.”
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The work has been significant.
McCourty was instrumental in lobbying for a bill Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed in April, which raised the age at which children can be charged in juvenile court from 7 to 12.
That bill also established a task force to study raising the age of adult court jurisdiction from 18 to 19.
Days before the 2018 season opener, the coalition published a post on The Players Tribune detailing some of the positive change the organization affected.
In the post, Kaepernick’s initial stance was credited for being the catalyst.
“Colin Kaepernick started a movement through protest, taking a knee to put a laser focus on the men and women who have died because of police brutality. His efforts have inspired us to work on behalf of our lost brothers’ memory to try to stop the carnage. He did this at great personal cost to himself. Surely it’s an act of patriotism to forfeit your job to fight for others.”
Jenkins and Eagles teammates Torrey Smith and Chris Long – also members of the coalition – lobbied in Pennsylvania for the Clean Slate Act. Former NFL player Boldin has made inroads as a leading voice for criminal justice reform in Florida.
McCourty also lauded the work of players who decided not to join the coalition.
“Look at the guys in Miami like Kenny Stills. Even though he’s not part of the coalition, he’s doing great work,” he said. “Russell Okung is one of the smartest players in the NFL, a really effective guy, and he decided not to be in the Players Coalition. I don’t think there’s any reason for us to go after each other. I think the best thing is to support each other and not be negative because we’re all trying to help communities that need help. No matter what, whether we agree or disagree on some things, we can’t turn against each other."
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That Kaepernick continues to be blackballed while advances are made in a movement he began seems to be the core of the bitterness for Reid.
That, and the belief that the only reason the NFL owners agreed to put up money was to stop players from kneeling.
“This all started with guys wanting to create change in the communities,” said McCourty. “It wasn’t for a new CBA or changing league policy. It was never a war between us and the NFL. So to sign a deal (in which the NFL promised funding) and consider that 'selling out' (is unfair).
“No one agreed that (the Players Coalition) would make individuals stop kneeling or protesting. How could Malcolm or any of us go in (to a meeting with the NFL) and say, ‘I’ll make the whole league agree to stop taking a knee?’ Owners heard numerous times in those meeting that, if a deal is made, we cannot control other guy’s expressions.
“Eric Reid said before the season he wouldn’t take a knee this season, but he did,” McCourty pointed out. “That’s a personal decision. You might say you’re not going to take a knee and then something might change your mind. That never came up as any part of any deal. The coalition and the things we’ve done, there’s been no selling out.”
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McCourty believes Kaepernick and Reid are to thank for what individuals like him have been able to contribute.
“You can’t mention anything to do with this movement without mentioning what Kaepernick’s done,” he explained. “He really inspired a lot of us with what he did. It let everyone see that we can do more than a post on Instagram or Twitter. We can do more. And that inspired the Players Coalition. It just so happened, that the existence of the Players Coalition and (Kaepernick) not being in the league, it all gets thrown in together. I just don’t agree with that connection.
“We couldn’t get him back in the league and I think the Players Coalition takes a lot of blame for that when all the Players Coalition is about is being a group of players trying to help the communities that they play in or are from that have had issues that have their root in racial disparity.
“At the end of the day, we get blamed for what the league is doing to Kaepernick,” McCourty said. “I don’t know what needs to be done to make it more acceptable to E-Reid but I would never want to say anything bad about those guys because they went out on a limb and took a chance and started a bigger movement than themselves.”
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