Colts: Indy canceling practice on Thursday in wake of protests is sign of things to come
The Colts won’t practice on Thursday in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The NBA has considered abandoning the bubble after postponing all of Wednesday’s playoff games. The WNBA decided to cancel all of their games while some teams in MLB and MLS opted not to play on Wednesday as well. This was all in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake at the hands of Kenosha police.
Simply put, most of the country, especially athletes, are sick and tired seeing unarmed black men fall victim to violence from law enforcement, which is why protests are raging across the United States.
As a result, the Indianapolis Colts have joined the movement and won’t practice on Thursday. This comes after the Detroit Lions opted to do so two days ago to protest.
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) August 27, 2020
Head coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard have been two outspoken figures in regards to social injustice, so this shouldn’t be a surprise to Colts fans. Back in June, the two devoted team meetings to discuss such topics after George Floyd was killed in police custody.
And guess what? This is only the beginning in the NFL. The league has historically been silent on such pertinent issues outside of football, as evidenced by the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee four years ago to the day yesterday, but now commissioner Roger Goodell quickly changed his tune when the biggest stars in the game decided to take action and make a video speaking out against racism and police brutality.
GM Chris Ballard shares his thoughts on social justice and racial inequality. (via @Colts) pic.twitter.com/oOCaug1bXM
— NFL (@NFL) June 7, 2020
Instead of focusing on football Thursday, the Colts will dedicate the day figuring out ways to better their community during these trying times. A number of other teams are already following suit. As of this writing, the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Washington Football Team have postponed their practices.
And with the season set to kick off in two weeks, don’t expect this to go away. Whether you like it or not, protests of some sort will be permeating the game more than even before in order to bring attention to pertinent social issues that must be amplified.
The Colts are in a team meeting, and all players and coaches are registering to vote right now as part of that meeting. Coach Frank Reich met with the team's leadership council last night to set all this up.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 27, 2020
I'm told Jacoby Brissett was a leading voice in doing it.
The Colts are doing right by their players who wish to speak up. The fact that Indy has a leadership council that’s comprised of players and is separate from the coaching staff speaks volumes in terms of how serious the organization is in wanting to make a change.
Look, many people are hoping this doesn’t affect the 2020 season, but if it does, so be it. Football is just a game. We’re talking about life and death here.
