‘It’s bigger than football’: Mizzou players again use their voice, aim for change
The Missouri Tigers were — again — on the front lines of change.
After a summer of protests blazed through the U.S., condemning racial inequality and social injustice, there was an inkling of thought the country was taking real steps toward reform.
Then Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by local officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The shooting was just the latest example of police brutality against Black people in this country.
It spurred further conversation of race in the U.S. — and the Tigers again joined the dialogue.
Mizzou student-athletes said they came together to incite change. The Tigers took a “pause in practice” Friday, MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz said, instead focusing on themselves and societal issues. The final result was a unified statement from the entire program, decrying racism and police brutality while planning for their next steps.
“I’m focused on Black lives and making sure they matter to me just as much as they matter to anybody else,” Drinkwitz said after Saturday’s morning practice. “Making sure that (the players) understand that I care about them. I have to make sure that their lives matter as much as anyone else’s. If they feel that that’s not the case, then I hurt for them.”
The statement was released after hours of conversation on Friday, MU running back Larry Rountree III said. Coaches and players alike told their own personal stories then of being a person of color in this country, though Drinkwitz said they’ll keep specifics in the family.
The canceled practice and statement were similar steps for a team that’s embraced tough conversations and open communication. At the height of the protests over the summer, the Tigers held a peaceful walk from The Columns to Boone County Courthouse. Nearly the entire football team attended, joined by local officers, university administrators, MU men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin, MU women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton and numerous others.
The underlying message of that march was to vote, Drinkwitz said. Sixty-two Mizzou student-athletes registered to vote that day.
Friday’s canceled practice was instead about raising awareness, MU linebacker and captain Nick Bolton said. The team also drew up action plans for how they plan to create real, tangible change in the community, though Drinkwitz said they’ll also keep that in house.
“We understand that things can’t be fixed in one day,” Bolton said. “We’ve been doing this for over 100 years. Just trying to take it day-by-day, just trying to make awareness to the situation. Nothing really more than that.”
The Tigers returned to using their platform and voices as student-athletes — a major reason why they chose to cancel practice, Rountree said. The newly-elected captain said he talks with teammates often whenever societal issues come up, and just like over the summer, they couldn’t “just let it fly over our heads like nothing’s going on.”
While the team had a clear vision, Rountree said he understood why any detractors might be confused as to why the Tigers chose to cancel practice and what they hoped to accomplish.
The Tigers wanted to vocalize their experiences as young Black men in this country, Rountree said, which led to open conversations between the team. And if outsiders couldn’t understand that, Rountree said he wouldn’t be mad, just that he wants to explain his own perspective.
“I’m not just going to just play football,” Rountree said. “It’s bigger than football. I’m a student-athlete, but again, I’m a person. If this is wrong, then it’s wrong. And I’m going to speak about it.”
While the Tigers move onto their next steps, there’s little doubt the bond and trust the coaching staff has built with the players.
Drinkwitz, who’s in his first year since being hired from Appalachian State, has been forced to deal with a litany of outside factors besides football. There’s the COVID-19 pandemic which has completely changed the landscape of the sport, along with tough conversations about race as the nation grapples with inequality.
Building that respect with his players is an everyday task, Drinkwitz said, one he’s still working on. They’ve also tried different tasks to further that bond, such as creating “unity teams” during TKO Olympics to mix and mingle players with coaches who they normally wouldn’t interact with.
“First way to build respect is through time, investment of time,” Drinkwitz said. “Spending time with players and getting to know them. So that’s really what we’ve done. Just tried to spend time, try to put them in environments out of football.”
That trust branches out to include the 10 full-time assistant coaching staff, seven of whom are people of color, according to Drinkwitz. That diverse staff was a significant part of the team’s meeting Friday, sharing stories and their experiences in this country behind closed doors.
But Drinkwitz said he didn’t look at his staff’s skin color when hiring them to Mizzou. He said he chose to look at the person’s character instead, which is how he formed a staff rich with different backgrounds.
The players said they trust their coaching staff, especially after Friday’s events and the march over the summer. Bolton said he appreciated being able to have “real conversations” with the coaches as young men, tackling issues together as a team.
The Tigers said they plan to move on from Friday’s meeting and stand with a refreshed mindset. Instead of bottling up those inner frustrations about race, injustices and other issues, Rountree said they were able to hash it out with his teammates.
“I feel like when we actually sit down as a team and talk about these things together, it actually makes us get closer” Rountree said. “We actually can talk about it and talk to a different race on our team and give them examples of we could’ve had issues dealing with social injustice or police or anything.
“... He’s not going to know what it feels like, but at the end of the day, I can share it and he can understand from my perspective of what I went through or what any of us went through.”