Like so many people, NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent was moved by last week’s video from star players imploring the league to act.
Now, he wants the stars of that video to keep the pressure on.
During an appearance on NFL Network, Vincent said he hoped Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson would continue to advocate to create change in their own markets as well.
“We have to turn that action into solution,” Vincent said. “That starts with you, one, registering to vote, both in your local market and nationally. This is how we put voice to action. Keep having civil conversations. I’m speaking to the [Super Bowl] MVP [Mahomes] in particular. You have a call to action to the Commissioner. Deshaun Watson, a call to action to the Commissioner. That same conversation has to go to the second floor, speaking of [Chiefs owner] Clark Hunt and [Texans owner] Cal McNair. They have to hear from you if these issues are important to you. Because it’s one thing to challenge the Commissioner, one thing to challenge our office, but we’ve got to put these words into actions. So we have to speak to your head coach about it, speak to your General Manager. We have to continue bridging this gap between player and community.”
Vincent also lauded Roger Goodell for his response to the players.
“Frankly, I loved what the Commissioner, his comments to the players were,” Vincent said. “And I think it’s so important that we, America, as the players have been stating four years ago -- and I want to name these individuals specifically ‘cause it’s so important to name them. Anquan Boldin, Malcolm Jenkins, Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Chris Long, Kelvin Beachum, Michael Bennett, Kenny Stills. These issues are what these individuals, these players, were talking three, four years ago — we just weren’t listening. And they keep saying that, and the message gets twisted and convoluted and people inject politics. These individuals, these players, they were leading on these efforts trying to bring this to our attention.”
By naming Kaepernick, Vincent is one step ahead of Goodell, as the former 49ers quarterback’s continued unemployment stands in stark relief from the league’s recent messaging.