Panthers players wanted to make a gesture yesterday.
But perhaps with protesters and the National Guard in the streets, they decided it wasn’t the right time, or they just couldn’t come up with the right message.
Via Kelsey Riggs of WCNC, Panthers safety Tre Boston said players and coaches and General Manager Dave Gettleman discussed some degree of tribute/protest, after the police shooting of Keith Scott triggered six days of protests on the streets of Charlotte.
“I felt today was our biggest platform as a city, this Sunday, after everything happened,” Boston said.
But only one player, reserve safety Marcus Ball, raised a fist and an index finger during the national anthem, and when asked about it after the game, would only say it represented: “One love.”
“We’re trying to do it the right way. We’re trying to do it fast,” Boston explained. “But sometimes when you do it fast it can come out of control. So I think we want to do a good job of really coming together and figuring out how we want to do it. . . .
“I think we’re going to find a way to do it so nobody can twist what we’re trying to do, no one can misinterpret the direction we want to go with our protest. We want to show something that is so powerful and so right, that it can’t be made wrong.”
Other than Ball’s lone salute, quarterback Cam Newton warmed up prior to yesterday’s loss to the Vikings wearing a shirt with the Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“We have to find a way to show them, not only will we play for you, but we want to be with you in these times. We recognize what’s going on,” Boston said.
Tensions are beginning to calm in Charlotte, with city officials lifting the midnight curfew that had been in place since protests turned violent last Wednesday night.