Johnny Manziel responds to Merril Hoge’s criticisms
December 15, 2014
Cavs vs Hornets Behind the Box Score: Back in Business
December 15, 2014Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins stood before his locker, surrounded by dozens of local reporters and delivered an impassioned, straight-from-the-mind speech regarding his decision to wear a t-shirt during pre-game warm-ups on Sunday that was a call for justice in the wake of the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The shirt was later condemned as being “pathetic” by members of the local policeman’s association.
What follows is the speech in its entirety.
Obviously its’ getting a lot of coverage, which I kind of expected. I’m not going to answer any questions, not any disrespect to [the media] but more out of consideration for the Browns and the predicament that they’re in. I’m going to try and cover all bases so I just ask that you guys get the whole thing and nothing gets misunderstood. I was taught that justice was a right that every American should have, and that justice should be the goal of every American—that’s what makes this country special. To me, justice means that the innocent should be found innocent; those who do wrong should get their due punishment. Ultimately, it means fair treatment. A call for justice shouldn’t offend of disrespect anybody. A call for justice shouldn’t warrant an apology. To clarify: I utterly respect and appreciate every police officer that protects and serves all of us with honesty, integrity and in the right way. I don’t think those kind of officers should be offended by what I did.
My mom always taught me my entire life to respect law enforcement. I have family, close friends who are incredible police officers and a I tell them all the time how they are much braver than me for it. My wearing a t-shirt wasn’t a stance against every police officer or every police department. My wearing of the t-shirt was a stance against wrong individuals doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons to innocent people. Unfortunately, my mom also taught me that just as there are good police officers, there are some not-so-good police officers who would assume the worst in me, without knowing anything about me, for reasons I can’t control. And she taught me to be careful and be on the lookout for those not-so-good police officers because they could potentially do me harm, and most times without consequence. Those are the officers who should be offended.
Being a police officer takes bravery. I understand that they’re put in difficult positions and have to make those snap decisions. As a football player I know a little bit about snap decisions, but extremely lesser and on an non-comparative scale because when a police officer makes that decision, its a matter of life or death. And that’s hard—it’s a hard situation to be in. But if the wrong decision is made, based on preconceived notions or the wrong motives, I believe there should be consequence. Because without consequence, naturally, the magnitude of the snap decision is lessened, whether consciously or subconsciously.
I’m not an activist in any way, shape or form. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, I keep my opinions to myself on most matters. I worked extremely hard to build and protect my reputation, especially here in Ohio. By most accounts, I’ve done a solid job of building a good name. Before I made a decision to wear that t-shirt, I understood that I was putting that reputation in jeopardy to some of those people that wouldn’t necessarily agree with my perspective. I understood that there would be some backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down, I felt like it was the right thing to do. And if I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward. I can’t live with that. God wouldn’t be able to put me where I am today, and as far as I’ve come in life, if I was a coward.
As you all know, and it’s well documented, I have a two-year-old little boy. That same two-year-old little boy that everyone said was cute when I jokingly threw him out of the house earlier this year. That little boy is my entire world. The number one reason for me wearing the t-shirt was the thought of what happened to Tamir Rice happening to my little Austin scares the living hell out of me. My heart was broken for the parents of Tamir and John Crawford, knowing they had to live that nightmare of a reality. Like I said, I made the conscious decision to wear the t-shirt. My heart was in the right place. I’m at peace with it. Those who disagree with me: This is America, everyone has their First Amendment rights. Those who support me, I appreciate your support. But at the same time, support the causes and people and the the injustices that you feel strongly about. Stand up for them. Speak up for them. No matter what it is. That’s what America is about. That’s what this country was founded on.
26 Comments
There isn’t much more to say than ‘well put’. This guy flies in the face of the ‘dumb jock’ stigma most pro athletes perpetuate. Dude gets it.
Honest and level-headed. I’m a supporter.
I’m not sure what sort of “predicament” the Browns are supposed to be in. This is not a Michael Brown situation, where the facts are sketchy. It’s not even an Eric Garner situation, where, well, I don’t have an explanation for that one, but it’s not even an Eric Garner situation.
I don’t live in Cleveland so there might be something I’m missing, but this was a twelve year old boy gunned down from 8 feet away by a cop who had been deemed by another PD irreparably unfit to handle firearms. If it had been a real gun, the kid shouldn’t have been shot. I lean conservative, and I try to have an open mind, but the union guy’s claim is so ridiculous it doesn’t deserve a response. All I got out of this is that Hawkins is eloquent.
Dear Mr. Hawkins: Good for you. Those of us who have for decades seen the patrolman’s union reflexively lash out at every allegation before any facts are known take its criticism of you with a grain of salt.
As for any discomfort the league or Browns might have with your apparel, something Johnson Bademosi wrote last week more than clarified my own thinking, it actually changed my opinion. Yes, the league has a right to enforce an image it chooses through standards of behavior. But once it dips its toe into its pet causes, like forcing all players to participate in the money-vacuuming and ineffective Pink Ribbons “awareness” campaigns – once they use players as props to force a certain cause down consumers’ throats – I have little sympathy with any discomfort they may have that an African-American player would make a t-shirt statement during pre-game about an issue of central concern to the African-American community. Once the league takes on non-football causes, the genie’s out of the bottle. And if they fined me I’d refuse to wear pink cleats on Pink Day. I’d say, Not my issue, Commissioner, even my dog is “aware” of breast cancer.
maybe you thinking so much about this was the reason you dropped that 3rd down pass the team needed you to catch early in the game yesterday
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That’s a thoughtful, reasonable statement, and I respect him and what he said.
What’s sad is that this issue that our society is dealing with invariably devolves into Us vs. Them, Good vs. Evil, I’m Right and You’re Crazy screaming matches, and anyone who wants to see both sides or who wants to wait until we actually know some FACTS is either a riot-loving thug or a cop-loving racist.
Too many minds are made up immediately, and anyone who doesn’t toe a party line is some clueless fool. I hate this, and I pass.
Let’s let the truth prevail.
Solid response – I wish more people took this approach.
Lessened ≠ lessoned.
Amazing response- does anyone do this type of a response without a tele-prompter anymore? Absolutely incredible.
It’s funny: A lot of people like to think pro athletes are “dumb jocks”, but a lot of them are actually quite smart (you have to be to develop the skills you need to be a pro athlete), and many that have a public persona of being dumb are doing so because they know that fans and sometimes owners expect it.
I’m thinking back to last year when a lot of media guys called Richard Sherman a “thug”, and within a couple of days he was encouraging young girls to aspire to be CEOs rather than strippers. Or LeBron James, whose skill at basketball has a lot to do with his documented ability to memorize exactly what happened on every single play during a game. Or Alex Mack, in a position that’s usually seen as “dumb muscle” being absolutely instrumental in reading opposing defenses and making the right calls at the line.
Andrew Hawkins said the right thing, in the right forum, in the right way, for the right reasons. Anyone who tries to go after him (I’m looking at you, police union rep defending a force that just got into serious trouble with the US Dept of Justice) for that is an idiot.
Andrew Hawkins gets it. You, clearly, do not.
May have to do a Jersey Mod to the old Cribbs jersey
very eloquent in your statement. When professions start outing their bad seeds, these situations will lessen.
I am the son of a policeman.White.70.I am horrified by some of the things police representatives are saying which serve no good purpose for the majority of their colleagues. I am inspired and humbled by the words of Andrew Hawkins who rightly proclaims the foundations of law that should be on the lips of every decent human being.
I am not disagreeing with his statement, but the way he went about it. If I were to show up at my place of employment in the same shirt I would be fired on the spot. Any workplace has the right to regulate what apparel is worn by employees during work hours, and the NFL is far from the only employer in a consumer related business to require wearing cause-related apparel. Does that irk me, yes, but what irks me more is the superiority complex displayed by athletes whom believe they are above all establishment. It is my belief that he should have “made his statement” on his own time.
totally hear your points. A business has every right to form its image. But my comment set up a straw man that you’ve knocked down. As far as I know his wearing the shirt in warm ups did not violate a league rule. If they still squawked at him I wouldn’t blame him for squawking back. Creating cause-related apparel days and facile feel-good commercials for causes unrelated to sport has the potential to open major labor riffs if you then silence brief, polite statements for a cause directly affecting a large percentage of the company work force and more serious than “awareness” of a disease that everyone in the universe knows about. Neither the league nor the team punished him. They didn’t think he was “above all establishment.” And even if it privately bothers them inside the building, statements of support was probably smart business.
My question is why hasnt Mr Hawkins spoken out for the past 25 yr of his life concerning all the black on black murders (which is a 1000 times higher than cops killing kids) if the thought of his child dying is what made him speak out?? Why hasn’t blacks murdering both blacks and whites in alarming numbers not been enough of an issue for him to speak on before now? He doesn’t seem to be concerned about blacks being killed…just as long as they aren’t killed by a white guy! If he could clear this up for me then I might be able to accept his plea as something more than just being a closet racist…..
He clearly stated he mostly keeps his thoughts to himself. And, as he is a young man, it usually takes a bit to speak out against injustice publicly. I think you are looking for a problem that doesn’t exist with this comment. He doesn’t have to speak on every issue to be right on this one.
This is one of the most well-formulated, and well-delivered public responses to any question, that I’ve ever seen. Hard to believe there was a mic shoved in his face at the time. Even if I did disagree with what he had done….I must say, he would win on appeal. That’s what people mean when they say, “you are not what you say, you are what you do.” I am standing on my chair applauding, both him, and his momma!
This is just silly. The black on black murder statistics do not mean what people like “Reality” take them to mean. The same FBI table that lists those numbers also clearly shows that most people who murder white people are white. So, what is your point again, Reality?
And, please indulge me. Show me reliable data that shows blacks “murder both blacks and whites in alarming numbers?” Have you actually looked any of this data yourself, or did you read about it on some blog? I find it odd that you call a person racist because people of his color are being killed for no reason… People complaining about deadly racism are racist?
your fatal error : ‘place of employment’ … this guy and most athletes have contracts … are independent contractors … and are not beholden to any dress code during practice and warm-ups except protective gear
this guy is most definitely superior to you, has the ability to express himself better than you, likely makes more money than you …
mister hawkins is 28 years old . what were you speaking out about from the age of 3???
meanwhile, if you think hawkins or anybody cares whether you ‘accept his plea as something more than just being a closet racist’ you are sadly mistaken . tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, just listened to what this man said . only a few of us here are seeing what you think, and so far, all of us think you’re the racist, and you’re an ignorant fool
Completely irrelevant.
Clouding the issue clearly at hand (Police officers using deadly force on black men under questionable circumstances and not facing inquiry, much less prosecution) by bringing up examples of other violence and how he “doesn’t seem to be concerned” is a red-herring fallacy at its finest.
The discussion is about accountability.. he clearly states that “those who do wrong should get their due punishment”- he isn’t implying black, white, or green.
Last time I checked it’s human on human violence.
If you want to talk about socio-economics, race-associated disparity, or impoverishment– then bring up inner city schooling, broken-window policing (and why those windows are broken in the first place), drugs, and systematic violence… But again, those are issues, not races..
Millions watch sports in America, I’m happy to see social events seeping into the mainstream for those who don’t usually pay attention or don’t care to in reference to the world around them. Bring attention to the issue