ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions canceled practice Tuesday to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They addressed reporters as a team in front of their building to deliver a message that they will be part of the change in the United States against police brutality.
Three Lions players -- safety Duron Harmon, defensive end Trey Flowers and offensive tackle Taylor Decker -- addressed the media to explain their decision and share why, when they entered the building Tuesday, they felt football wasn't as important as speaking out and sending a message that what happened to Blake and many others in this country is not OK.
"As a team, we looked each other in the eyes and realized that football isn't important today," Harmon said. "We have a platform that we are able to use not just to raise awareness but to create change."lake, a Black man, was shot by police on Sunday as he tried to enter the driver's side door of his vehicle. Officers were responding to a domestic disturbance. Blake's father, also named Jacob Blake, told ABC News that he was told his son was shot eight times and is paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors do not know whether the paralysis will be permanent.
Video of the shooting, taken from a window across the street, was distributed on social media and shared by Blake's attorney, Ben Crump.
Harmon said the Lions will do everything they can to win football games -- but they'll do "everything we can to bring change as well." The Lions brought out a whiteboard with two phrases written on it: "The World Can't Go On" and "We Won't Be Silent."
"We can't be silent," Flowers said. "We can't say silent. We cannot be going on in the world with our regular day. So today, unified we stand here and we came up with these words, these slogans, and we spread the message, spread the word."
Three Lions players -- safety Duron Harmon, defensive end Trey Flowers and offensive tackle Taylor Decker -- addressed the media to explain their decision and share why, when they entered the building Tuesday, they felt football wasn't as important as speaking out and sending a message that what happened to Blake and many others in this country is not OK.
"As a team, we looked each other in the eyes and realized that football isn't important today," Harmon said. "We have a platform that we are able to use not just to raise awareness but to create change."lake, a Black man, was shot by police on Sunday as he tried to enter the driver's side door of his vehicle. Officers were responding to a domestic disturbance. Blake's father, also named Jacob Blake, told ABC News that he was told his son was shot eight times and is paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors do not know whether the paralysis will be permanent.
Video of the shooting, taken from a window across the street, was distributed on social media and shared by Blake's attorney, Ben Crump.
Harmon said the Lions will do everything they can to win football games -- but they'll do "everything we can to bring change as well." The Lions brought out a whiteboard with two phrases written on it: "The World Can't Go On" and "We Won't Be Silent."
"We can't be silent," Flowers said. "We can't say silent. We cannot be going on in the world with our regular day. So today, unified we stand here and we came up with these words, these slogans, and we spread the message, spread the word."
