Saints receiver Emmanuel Sanders said he was so angry that he was brought to tears after seeing video of the senseless death of George Floyd by a former Minneapolis police officer.
“Seeing that video, what upset me was obviously that he was African-American, but I know that could have easily been me,” Sanders said on NFL Network on Wednesday, via Luke Johnson of The Times-Picayune. “That’s one of my biggest fears; literally being suffocated, and you can’t do anything about it.”
Sanders participated in Blackout Tuesday, posting a plain, black square on his Instagram. He is hopeful that the protests and outrage across the country will lead to meaningful change.
“Yes, we’re united. Yes, we’re all one. Yes, we have to come together,” Sanders said. “We have to set laws to do something about this police brutality.
“I preach to everyone to go out and vote, get the right people in office so we can actually make change. Let’s not just talk about it and let it happen on social media, then in two weeks everybody forgets about it. Let’s make change, or this situation is going to keep coming about.”