2020 UK Football Team - Photo by Jacob Noger - UK Football
Keion Brooks Jr. made some strong statements Friday during a Zoom media conference about his feelings on social injustice just one day after the Kentucky football team walked off the practice field as a sign of protest.
Brooks, a sophomore on John Calipari’s team, knew not all UK fans were happy with what the football team even though it had the full support of coach Mark Stoops and staff. He also knows many fans probably wouldn’t like all he said, either.
“I think people have a difficult time separating the athlete from the sport that they play,” he said. “Just because I represent Kentucky basketball, that does not mean I’m not a person who has morals, values, and views on certain things.
“We have strong views on topics just like the fans do, and they just want us to go out there, entertain them for an hour or two, and just shut up. I don’t see why they would think that way. That’s not going to work. That’s not how this is. I’m praying for them (and) hopefully they can see change.”
Not every UK fan has a problem with what the football players did or said along with what Brooks said. John Ferguson of Louisville, a former UK basketball manager, put this reply on my Facebook page after Thursday’s football protest: “This will draw the team closer. These young men are not only football players but human beings who have the right to their beliefs. I admire Coach Stoops and the coaching staff for the way they handled the situation. Coach Stoops recruits young men with character and this was shown especially the way that (Josh) Paschal approached the team and Coach Stoops. If Paschal had not approached this in a mature way it could have possibly simmered until it wrecked the football season.
“Just to be clear I am a conservative that believes in free speech and protesting without violence. God Bless this football team and the coaching staff and God Bless America.”
Mark Mason of Middlesboro is a Kentucky fan who has the opposite feeling Ferguson did. Here’s the message he sent me: “After yesterday’s walkout, I’ve decided to be done with UK football. Four-year scholarships valued at over $200,000 while the average student struggles to get by? Yes, let’s talk about social injustice. Enough is enough. I’m 51, followed UK my whole life. I’m done.”
Another Kentucky fan, Greg Edwards of Monticello, has a more middle of the road approach.
“I understand that kids are idealistic. I get that college professors promote this. They also want free thinkers, to expand kids minds and such. And I guess, up to a point that’s a good thing. I know that the purpose of college is to give kids an education, and that old guys like me have our minds made up about the world because of what we have seen, done, and been party to our whole lives. So I am trying my best not to look down my nose at these kids when the things they are doing will have little to no impact on the real problems going on,” Edwards said.
“Athletes sometimes take their positions much too seriously. I could care less what LeBron James thinks, because he’s not one of my heroes. If these kids are being influenced by their professional counterparts I hope that they are taking what the multi-millionaires club is saying with just a small grain of salt. I don’t know how much of this is about oppression and racism, and how much is about politics and money, but I really really hope that they are getting good advice from the right people.
“I trust Coach Stoops as much as I trust Coach Cal. Having said that, even coaches are not above having opinions and they are in a position of huge influence in these young men’s lives. I pray they use it wisely.”
So do I and from what I have seen, I think they have been by giving their players the freedom to make their own choices.
Bob Jones, a former UK football player, is appreciative that the players have had a chance to talk about their feelings.
“I’m proud of how they went about this. I know several of them and know they are not just good athletes, but good people,” Jones said.
Another former UK football player, Raymond Sanders, was also proud of the players and coaches for “standing on the right side of history” with their stance.
He did think it was “sad and disappointing” the way some UK football fans reacted to the players’ protest.
“Like I told (UK safety) Yusuf (Corker), appreciate the true fans who love you when that uniform comes off,” Sanders said.
