Saturdays Are For Football, Not Protests. My Words To Jourdan Lewis

Football for me, has always been a way to escape all of the sometimes harsh realities of life. It gives me 4 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to forget about the bills, forget about the constant political bickering that goes on during election years, forget about work, or whatever. Everybody has life issues that they like to escape from for a few hours each week.

Some folks read a book, some folks watch a favorite show, some folks go out dancing. Whatever it is, folks just need a way to escape the daily responsibilities, and lose themselves in their favorite activity. For many, it is a game of football. For me, it is Michigan football.

I'm an old schooler. I was weened on Meeechigan football by Bob Ufer, and Bo Schembechler. My very first
Michigan games were not seen on television, but listened to on the radio. I actually feel bad for the kids today, who missed out on Bob Ufer calling a game. You could get more of a picture of what was happening on the field by his words on the radio, than you could by watching it today on the television.

Back then, there was no war on a Saturday at noon, other than the war between the sidelines at the Big House in Ann Arbor, or The Horseshoe in Columbus. There were no politics on Saturdays, there was nothing but football. There was no black vs white, there was only Maize & Blue vs Scarlet & Gray. There was nobody kneeling on the sidelines during the National Anthem, there was a line of Maize & Blue Winged helmets on one side, and the Golden Domes of the Irish on the other. The cameras did not focus on players kneeling, or raising their fists, but rather on the marching band playing our nation's song.

I miss those days. I miss the days when I could lose myself in a game. I miss the days when I could be oblivious to anything going on in the world, other than what was happening at the line of scrimmage. I miss the days when the worst thing imaginable was when those nasty Buckeyes decided to tear down the M Club banner when they ran onto the field. I miss the days when the most controversial thing a player ever did, was when Jim Harbaugh guaranteed a victory over Ohio State.

Back then, it was the team, the team, the team. No individual players stood out. Not on Bo's teams. No
one player was more important than another, and Bo hammered that point home at every practice, and every game. That point was made clear in 1985 when Bo suspended both of his starting kickers for the Ohio State game, after they broke team training rules, and he started Pat Moons, a senior who had not even attempted a field goal in his 4 years on the team. Moons went on to make 4 out of his 5 field goal attempts in wins against the Buckeyes, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Fiesta Bowl, and the Wolverines finished as the #2 team in the country. No one player, was above the team.

So last Saturday, as I have done for well over 40 years, I sat down to watch my men in Maize & Blue. I sat down to lose myself in a game between two historic football programs. Instead of seeing our Maize & Blue marching band perform, the camera focused on some of our players raising fists in the air. I couldn't help but be sad. My team, a team so steeped in tradition, the winningest team in all of college football, the team with the largest attendance on most every single Saturday, was no longer the team, the team, the team.

It was a team, but with a few players separating themselves from the others by their actions. According to
Jourdan Lewis, who is a fine football player, and who will play on Sundays, he was using his own platform to raise awareness about racial injustice. This has been happening more frequently since Colin Kaepernick began kneeling for the National Anthem.

I would respectfully say to Mr. Lewis that you are part of a team. A team with rich tradition. The only
platform should be the one that the whole team stands upon. You don't get to have your own platform just because you'll be playing on Sundays. This team went 3-0 without you, and we would have won this
game without you, just like the 1985 team won when Pat Moons was the next man up.

Mr. Lewis is a good guy from all accounts. He makes his grades off the field, is a good teammate on the field, and I truly believe his heart is in the right place. I can probably say the same for the rest of the players raising their fists on the sidelines last week as well. But here is the thing. You all have a platform off the field. You don't need to create one on the field. You have way more platforms than any player under Bo had. You have social media, you have a 24 hour sports news cycle, and reporters dying to get a sound byte from you. If you truly feel the need to express yourselves in support of Mr. Kaepernick, or to be a social justice warrior, save it for another forum, because like many people I know, we just want to watch a football game. We just want to escape the nastiness that surrounds us the rest of the week.

I would respectfully say to Mr. Lewis that we simply want to lose ourselves in a game. We don't want to think about the war. We don't want to think about the riots plaguing our nation. We don't want to think about terrorism, ISIS, Clinton, Trump, or any of that stuff. We just want to watch the damn game, and we don't really care for that 4 hours what it is, that is on your mind when you are using your platform.

To be completely honest, most of us have already made up our minds on these issues, and there is nothing
you can do on the sidelines, using your perceived platform that will change our minds. In many cases, it just turns people off. You may have your heart in the right place, and you may say that no disrespect is intended, but there are a great many folks who don't see it that way.

I know a veteran named Mike, who is a lifelong Michigan fan, and has been a season ticket holder beginning
about 20 years before you were born Mr. Lewis, and he not only served our nation in the Vietnam war, but he was a big reason why you hear the announcement before the games at the Big House about the National
Anthem. The announcer tells folks to please rise for the playing of the National Anthem, and tells folks to take off their hats, and thanks to guys like Mike, he also states that active and former military can leave their hats on, and render a hand salute.

So in essence Mr. Lewis, while you are using your “platform” to raise your fist, there are men and women
who have put their lives on the line, who are saluting our flag, and respecting our song. They are also remembering their lost brothers and sisters in many cases. I have seen first hand the solemnity our
veterans show during the National Anthem, and as someone who has never served our country, I show the same respect, and I do it because I respect their sacrifice. I find a different platform to make my social or political statements.

I would also say to Mr. Lewis that there are also police officers on the field while you are using your platform to raise your fist. I can tell you right now that if some crazy fan were to run onto the field and try to attack you for your actions, that the nearest police officer or as many as needed, would do their level best to put themselves between you and that attacker, and do it without hesitation, raised fist or not. I know that to be
true, because I worked as game management personnel in section 26 for 7 years. As a player, you get a level of protection from the police that is better than most folks attending the games. That is a fact, not an opinion.

I would ask you Mr. Lewis, to take some time, and maybe strike a conversation someday with some of the police officers that roam the sidelines providing security. Do it before or after a game. Get to know one or two of them. I think you will find that they are for the most part, pretty good people, just like you. I think you will find that just like you feel that your heart is in the right place, they too feel that they have their heart in the
right place. I think that if you were to get to know some of them, you may be more hesitant to use your platform to make a gesture that you would learn is very hurtful to many of them. You actually stated in the interview above, that “we gotta come together together, we gotta encounter each other more.” This is a good way to start. Strike up a conversation with a police officer or two, and you may find that to be a worthwhile encounter.

Not everybody is perfect. There are good apples, and there are bad apples. There are good cops, and there are bad cops. There are good athletes, and there are bad athletes. I believe most athletes go to a university to do their best, and to represent their university in the highest manner. I also believe that most police go into law enforcement to do their best, and to protect and serve our community.

In today's 24 hour news cycle, one or two bad actors on a football team can poison the public perception of
the whole team. We've seen it many times, and it is unfair to the players that do the right thing. It works the same way with police as well. Mr. Lewis, I am asking you, and your teammates to consider this next time when the Michigan Marching Band takes to the field for our National Anthem.

I would also ask you Mr. Lewis, to think about this platform you talk about. How did you get that platform? A lot of practice right? A lot of God given talent, and a lot of sweat and blood on the practice field right? I would ask you to consider giving others a shot at the platform that you enjoy as a player. Yes, there are others that have some talent, and practice their butt off. They used to have a platform as well, but last Saturday you may have unintentionally hijacked it. Those people are the members of the marching band. Believe it or not, they practice just as much as you do. They may not risk injury, but they put in the hours. They don't get the hype like you do, they'll not play on Sundays like you will, but they put in the hours.

So when you were using your platform to raise your fist, the cameras were on you, and not them. They don't
get many chances for Mom and Dad to see them perform on TV, but those parents watch every minute hoping to see their son or daughter perform at the Big House. I am sure you never really considered that Mr. Lewis, but an old schooler like myself thinks about these things.

In the end Mr. Lewis, I just want to reiterate that I think your heart is in the right place, I really do. I also have never heard a bad word about you. Only good things from your teammates, and your coaches. You're a hard worker, we know that. You're a smart guy, we know that. You have earned every single thing you've received, and we know that.

I also want you to know that this is not a white or black thing. I don't see my Wolverines as white or black, I only see them as Maize and Blue. The only difference between Dennis Franklin and Tom Brady to me, is age. The only difference between Rob Lytle and Jamie Morris to me, was that one was a fullback, and one was a running back. You may also think that I am purposely singling you out, and maybe that is so. I know that other players on other teams are doing the same thing as you, but you are soon to be a Michigan Man forever, you are a leader on this team, and rightfully so, and you are the one who stepped up to explain your actions, which I respect, so you are the man I want to address. And make no mistake, no matter what happens before the Wisconsin game, the biggest thing I want you to know, is that I'll be rooting for you and the team on Saturday, and I'll always be hoping that everybody gets through the game safely.

It is also important for you to know that I am not suggesting that your feelings are not valid, or that you shouldn't be allowed to speak out on issues. Our country is great because we have the freedom to speak our minds without fear of repression from our government.

I'm just asking that you consider what I have said, and allow an old fellow like me to have 4 hours on eleven or twelve Saturdays a year to think about nothing but Meeechigan football. I don't want to think about platforms, race relations, the news, or politics. All I want to think of, is the team, the team, the team.

Go Blue!!!