Social Activism in Sport Damichael Cole Lucas Hunter Quinton Douglas David Wilson Brandon Breedon Ft. Stephen A. Smith

Damichael Cole – More questions than answers How would Tennessee protest affect the school financially? Would coaches receive more backlash because players are considered ‘amateurs’? Would the fan backlash be different if the player was a walk-on and not a star player on the team? Could players risk losing their scholarships with an Anthem protest? “I believe players will definitely risk losing their scholarships. It would be immoral but it could definitely happen.” -Stu Boyd “Based on past events, fans would react the same. They would be upset and demand that politics be left out of football. Regardless of the players status, they would be subjected to ridicule and hate by the same people who put them on a pedestal.” -Melody Banks

Lucas Hunter – Local media responds What about social activism is newsworthy? Why and how do journalists respond to social activism in sport? Ultimately, it’s a matter of public stature. “…Those decisions should not be made by the reporter but should be made after discussions that span the hierarchy of a news organization.” – David Cobb “That could ultimately hurt Tennessee in the wallet, and while we’d like to pretend we live in a world where that’s not the deciding factor, I think we all know it usually is the deciding factor.” – Wes Rucker

Quinton Douglas – Why is kneeling even an issue? Stephen A. Smith interprets the first amendment – Can the NFL command its athletes to do any one thing? Social protest stands in antinomy to the personal values of NFL owners Relationship between sports and patriotism

David Wilson – Social context for social movements There is a mix of reaction around the country of High School players kneeling before games. Places like Chicago have seen unity and collective support for protesting. However, in places like Houston Texas, players have been kicked off teams, and it Bossier City, LA, school districts have mandated that players stand. In Imperial County California, a school district also issued a mandate requiring players to stand, but this was fought in the courts all the way up the California Federal District court and the mandate was overturned stating it was a violation of students First Amendment rights.

Brandon Breeden – High school athletes explain their view Local high school football players’ attitudes towards kneeling during the National Anthem Very few pieces of Journalism have sought out the stances on this issue from a high school player’s perspective. Controversy was due to a lack of understanding on why some players were kneeling in the first place.