'Rogue' NFL employee spurred players to make powerful 'Black Lives Matter' video
In response to the death of George Floyd, systemic racism and police brutality, various NFL players, including Patrick Mahomes and Odell Beckham Jr., created a video to call out the league for not making a strong enough statement on the matter ... but they didn't do it alone.
They had some help from a rather unsuspecting person.
As it turns out, someone from the NFL who has been identified as a "rogue" employee actually helped the players create the powerful video, according to Yahoo's Henry Bushnell.
In the story, Bushnell discusses how NFL employee Bryndon Minter reached out to New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas via Instagram to ask if he'd consider making the video with him. Thomas responded quickly, and 24 hours later many players published and promoted the video.
According to Bushnell, Minter was afraid he'd be fired for helping create the video, but he told his bosses the plan and they approved of it.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell responded with a far stronger video statement condemning racism and even promoting the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
The league previously hadn't taken such a strong stance on the issue, and the NFL took a big step forward by officially condemning racism and the systemic oppression of black people.
However, the NFL failed to apologize to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been out of the league after kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality.
Kaepernick, 32, hasn't played in the NFL since 2016, and even though he's more talented than many quarterbacks currently under contract in the NFL, no organization has taken a chance on him.
The NFL's response comes after George Floyd, an African-American man, died last week after he was violently apprehended by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the incident recorded on video by a witness.
The 46-year-old Floyd was pinned to the ground by Chauvin, who then proceeded to kneel on Floyd's neck, preventing Floyd from breathing. Floyd pleaded for his life and told Chauvin he couldn't breathe, but Chauvin refused to move, as the video showed.
Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Chauvin was arrested last Friday on charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. On June 3, Chauvin's charge was upgraded to second-degree murder, and three other now-former officers who were on the scene are also facing charges.
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