Players, coaches and administrators from college football teams across the country gathered Saturday to take part in unity walks with their campus communities.
In Oxford, Miss., Lane Kiffin said it was important to take part “after listening to our players throughout the week,” the first-year Rebels coach told ESPN.
“We’re going to work together to make sure things change. They have to change. This is a good step, but just the first step,” said Kiffin.
In Tampa, Fla., USF senior cornerback and Tampa native KJ Sails organized a walk that attracted 300-400 people, who endured a rainy day to send a message of hope and change in the wake of the global protests that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
“We walked peacefully, and there was no chaos. We simply walked as one, and I feel like it spoke measures to the world,” Sails told ESPN. “It’s not about color. It’s about coming together as one, as a community, to show that together we can sow change.”
USF coach Jeff Scott called the walk a “powerful statement.”
“That message of unity was preached from our players starting on Monday. I really like what I have seen from the guys taking some meaningful steps this week in bringing everyone together,” Scott told ESPN.
In Charlotte, 49ers football coach Will Healy joined 500 others in a march through campus.
“We’ve got to make sure we continue to push the button,” Healy told ESPN. “This is great. A march is great. Voting is great. They’re great steps, but the real thing is, can we continue to run the race? We can’t get complacent and feel like we fixed it because we let them go vote.”
–Field Level Media
