DeSean Jackson is making a statement with his cleats, one that says nothing
Washington wide receiver DeSean Jackson is wearing special cleats for his warmup in order to raise awareness towards the “senseless killings of both citizens and police.” It’s an important conversation to continue, but both Jackson and the team squandered it with double talk and not-so-subtle jabs at Colin Kaepernick for his protest.
The white and light blue cleats have a caution tape graphic wrapped around them, instead of police tape as one would think. Without being told these are to raise awareness towards police brutality and the killing of police there’s a good chance nobody would have known what they stand for — and that’s the point.
Statements released by both Jackson and Washington are full of waffling talk and find a way in two paragraphs to say nothing of consequence at all.
DeSean Jackson’s statement uses four words to explain him raising awareness for police violence against citizens, and 22 words to clarify that he stands with police officers and isn’t protesting them.
“Today is the start of my attempts to be part of a solution and start dialogue about the senseless killings of both citizens and police. I have chosen to wear these cleats in pregame today to use my platform as a pro athlete to add to this discussion. This isn’t meant to be any kind of protest against the good men and women in law enforcement in this country. I just want to express my concern in a peaceful and productive way about issues that are currently impacting our country.”
Meanwhile the statement from Washington ensures citizens are never mentioned at all. As far as they’re concerned Jackson’s cleats are pro-police.
“We stand in support of both DeSean and the law enforcement community. We have great respect for law enforcement and the sacrifices they make each and every day to protect and serve our communities. We continue to have open dialogue with our players about issues that are important to them and support their efforts to bring awareness to those issues when done in a responsible manner.”
Notice that last line, too: “support their efforts to bring awareness to those issues when done in a responsible manner.”
Translation: Nobody is protesting during the anthem, not on our watch. Of course, it fails to mention that kneeling during the anthem is protesting in a responsible manner. It is a peaceful, non-violent gesture. What Washington really takes issue with is that kneeling during the anthem is noticeable, and the team wants this to be noticed as little as possible.
The best way to achieve this is with warm-up cleats that only a few people in the stadium will see, and even better if they’re vague enough that nobody takes notice.
The team response should surprise nobody. Organizations around the NFL are doing their best to distance themselves from the situation, and naturally Washington is the perfect fit to take a complicated issue requiring discussion and nuance and spin it to fit their agenda.
