Football's Fearless Activists. Mike Freeman.

 

 

 

Football’s Fearless Activists.    Mike Freeman.

How Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, and fellow Athletes stood up to the NFL and President Trump.  

Mike Freeman is a veteran writer of more than 25 years and has been writing about sports and race related topics for various publications including Sportico, USA Today, New York Times and the Washington Post.   Freeman has extensive knowledge of football covering the NFL for more than two decades.   However, his forte is conflating sports, particularly football with the topic of race and inequality.    Football’s Fearless Activists is not reluctant in bringing those topics to the forefront in every chapter. 

Written before former president Donald Trump was voted out of office in November 2020, the book features many characters.  However, the two main characters in this story are former NFL player (and chief fearless activist) Colin Kaepernick and former president Trump.   

One tried to edify the masses via peaceful protest during the national anthem and the other tried to divide and inflame the populace through mostly threatening rhetoric, at least according to the author.   Consequently, there is enough to put together a compelling story of football, race and politics in 190 pages.   The battle seemed to rage throughout Trump’s entire term. 

It is apparent that Freeman, the author of at least nine books including Snake:  The Legendary Life of Ken Stabler, is well versed in how the NFL works from the role of the players (especially the outspoken) all the way to the commissioner’s office.    One astute observation clarified the way the league is, and has been, run.   Fair to say the current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is the third main character of the story.   In explaining the “three most recent NFL commissioners.”   Freeman reports “It’s true that, to some degree, every NFL commissioner represents the owners, but none like Goodell.   Rozelle ran the owners, Tagliabue manipulated or ignored them, but Goodell has served them.” 

 In serving them, Goodell conveyed the message of the owners towards kneeling on the field – they were not in favor of the act.    Freeman also often asserts how the owners tended to side with Donald Trump and his agenda.    The book reports how in no other time in history where the White House purposefully attempted to influence the rulings of the league particularly to those they perceived as disrespecting “old glory”.  

On the other hand, Freeman let Kaepernick’s words speak for themselves.  The mantra was apparently clear enough: “I am drawing attention to the dire mistreatment of black people, particularly by law enforcement and judicial system.”   While the NFL and Goodell created the Inspire Change program with the superficial purpose of heightening the experience of minorities with law enforcement, their message was far less abrasive according to Freeman.   He asserts the intention was to “chat about the issue.”

It is further explained through Kenny Stills, another fearless activist, that while he understands the notion that people watch sports “to be entertained, and get away from all the things that are happening.  But that comes from a place of privilege.”  The thought highlighting one of the many insightful perspectives of the black athletes’ point of view.  

Freeman insisted on referring to former President Trump as a racist.   Racially insensitive, yes, but an actual practicing racist?  One thing for the author to consider is that many of his readers may not be truly woke.   So that being the case it might be helpful to define what being racist entails.   By definition is there a fine line between being racially insensitive or an actual outright racist?   Could be helpful to establish a baseline when using that term indiscriminately so throughout the book.

Overall, the book is filled with intrigue, contains plenty of dialogue and contrast between the two main characters.    It has a somewhat incomplete ending due to the timing of publication.  However, this is literature that should not only be found in the libraries and stores of woke communities but anywhere around the nation.    

 

·         You might like to read this book if you are a fan of Colin Kaepernick.

·         You might like to read this book if you follow the NFL.

·         You might like to read this book if you support of the work of activists.

·         You might like to read this book if you pursue social and racial equality in sports.

·         You might like to read this book if you seek to learn more about how politics mixes with professional sports. 

 

Read more about the author on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mikefreemanNFL