LBS- Gyree Durante, a backup quarterback at Division III Albright College in Reading, Pa., kneeled during the national anthem for the second straight game on Saturday to protest racism and social injustice. His teammates decided to kick him off the team after Durante went against a unified decision.
“I was just taught you fight for what you believe in and you don’t bow to anyone,” Durante said. “I believe heavily in this. So I decided to fight for it.” A university spokeswoman told NBC10 that players came together before Albright’s Oct. 7 game and decided they would kneel during the coin toss and stand during the national anthem going forward. Durante apparently did not agree with the decision. “This action, which was supported by the coaching staff, was created as an expression of team unity and out of the mutual respect team members have for one another and the value they place on their differences,” the spokeswoman said. “It was established as a way to find common ground in a world with many differing views.” The spokeswoman explained that a leadership council of 24 student-athletes decided on the procedure the team would follow, and players knew there would be consequences for going against it. Two other Albright players, freshmen Stephen Glynn and Josh Powell, told NBC10 that their sophomore teammate assured them he would stand with the rest of the team, but Durante broke the team’s trust. ------- But...but...but...how will a bench player at a DIII school in West Bumblefuck, Pennsyltucky ever get his point across if he's been kicked off a team whose games aren't televised or attended by more than a couple hundred disagreeable rednecks?! Oh wait, how is it that I know Albright College has a football team, and why is it that it took learning the name of their (now former) backup quarterback to realize they exist? As far as I and the vast majority of the people who caught wind of this story are concerned, the most notable thing to ever touch the football field in question was Gyree Durante's knee. I can understand his teammates feeling frustrated that their trust was betrayed by a kid who prioritized his dedication to the cause over his dedication to his team, but that locker room just furthered said cause by kicking him off said team. Assuming a backup quarterback whose picture can't even be found on the goddamn internet isn't on scholarship, he ultimately just got his purpose more publicity while freeing up his Saturday afternoons. We aren't talking about a kid who compromised millions upon millions of dollars like Colin Kaepernick. We are talking about a kid who now has all the time in the world to talk to any number of news outlets about being denied a First Amendment right because he no longer has to waste his time sitting on a steel bench watching games that no one outside the county gives a shit about from the sidelines. So congratulations to Albright College. They followed the lead of Donald Trump, Jerry Jones, and potentially Roger Goodell by turning a peaceful protest into a laughably bigger deal than it had to be by fruitlessly fighting tooth-and-nail against it. If their goal was to get everyone to stand for the National Anthem prior to one unwatched game this upcoming weekend then I guess they won. If their goal was to discourage similar protests while continuing to fly under the radar as some piss ant program in Podunk, Pennsylvania then they - in fact - are the big loser in the most intriguing "game" they have ever participated in.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
January 2020
|