The Buccaneers were not among the NFL teams to cancel practice today following Kenosha, Wisconsin police shooting Jacob Blake, and coach Bruce Arians made mind-boggling comments on the protests from the shootings that resounded in the world of sport.
“Your responsibility is to take action,” Ariens said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “I don’t know that protest is action. I think every guy has a personal thing. I beg them to act, to find a cause and to support it financially or to do something to change the situation, because protesting doesn’t do shit in my opinion. I have seen him since 1968. “
But protesting is action, and American history is replete with examples of protests that made a difference, from the Boston Tea Party to the March on Washington. Maybe what the Arians meant was that words alone weren’t enough to bring about change.
Arians himself has a strong background in promoting diversity, and his Buccaneers staff, with two female coaches and African Americans as four high-ranking assistants, are the most diverse coaching staff in history. of the NFL. That doesn’t mean his comments on the protests weren’t inaccurate, but it does suggest the Arians mean it when he advocates for action.
