Commentary

After kneeling, Dolphins take action

Michael Thomas looked at his phone Monday and saw video of an unarmed black man shot by police in Tulsa.

"That's our reality," the Dolphins safety thought.

He looked at his phone Tuesday before a meeting with police and community leaders and saw that there was a civic protest in Charlotte, N.C., over a black man being shot by police.

"This is why we're doing what we're doing," he thought.

He's still kneeling for the national anthem. Three Dolphins players are. They know it's not popular. They've received death threats on social media, been called the n-word by fans and, in Thomas' case, he's driven up to his home at times with one eye looking for any trouble.

"No one has come to my doorstep -- yet -- with a gun," he said.

But the meeting Tuesday night at the Dolphins' offices showed how this spotlight can bring people together. And start a conversation. And maybe, just maybe, allow the healing wheels of change to start.

Because this was a meeting with a purpose as organized under a town hall format developed by The Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), founded by Dolphins owner Steve Ross.

It involved a full roster of names: Thomas and teammates Jelani Jenkins, Kenny Stills and Arian Foster; RISE CEO Jocelyn Benson; Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel, director of player involvement Kaleb Thornbill, vice presidents of football operations in Mike Tannenbaum and of communication and community affairs in Jason Jenkins; former players Dan Marino and Jason Taylor; and several Broward and Miami-Dade law-enforcement and civic leaders.

"It showed it's possible for people who are protesting, who want to see change, that they can work with the law enforcement," Thomas said Wednesday. "And law enforcement recognizes there is a problem."

"It was a start," said Colonel Steve Kinsey, undersheriff of the Broward County sheriff's office. "They had a chance to explain themselves, how they weren't anti-police or anti-military.

"We were all in agreement when I spoke about needing communication and understanding. I've never been a victim of racism. I've never been pulled over driving a nice car. We as police officers need to have an understanding of that.

"At the same time, they need to understand what we go through every day as police officers. I sit behind a desk now, but I was out there for years. It's a reality every night that police don't come home. Their lives are at risk."

All this was Phase II of the Dolphins players' campaign to go from words to deeds. They were looking for ways to initiate change. From this meeting and other discussions, several events are happening.

Beginning with Sunday's game against Cleveland, the Dolphins are planning to hold a tailgate party before each home game involving the team, law-enforcement and invited at-risk youth and families.

Law-enforcement officials also will start joining some team events in schools. And when the high school player and coach of the week are awarded at Dolphins games, a law-enforcement official will be on hand.

Ideas were shared at Tuesday's meeting. Former rapper Luther Campbell talked of how when he started coaching youth sports in Liberty City years ago, 50 percent of the coaches were police officers. Now, he said, none are.

"That's something we need to think about," Kinsey said.

"This was the whole idea behind [kneeling]," Thomas said. "It wasn't like, 'OK, we talked about it, we're touchy-feely and it's good.' We wanted some action moving forward."

All this shows social protest is alive, and it's healthy for America. It's an at-times uncomfortable but founding pillar going back to the Boston Tea Party. On Tuesday, Alabama football Coach Nick Saban discussed being a student at Kent State when four students were shot protesting the Vietnam War.

"It probably did more to stop the war in Vietnam than anything else, unfortunately, for the students," Saban said.

Thomas knows the cost of this. He's not a star. He only decided to kneel for the opener in Seattle after approaching team owner Steve Ross in the locker room. Ross told him to "do what you think is right."

Social media death threats have come. Several teammates were clear they weren't on board, Thomas said. But a meeting like Tuesday's, starting some winds of change, suggests to him it can all have the desired ending.

Sports on 09/22/2016

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