The nearly 17,000 Kansas City Chiefs enthusiasts who performed Thursday at Arrowhead Stadium for the start of the NFL season were immersed in the national discussion on social injustice. It was a first NFL game like no other: mask worn by everyone from socially estranged enthusiasts to coaches, a series of videos that publicize social justice projects and encourage others to vote, and yet groups block their arms in a show of unity before the draw.
Super Bowl champion chefs had already banned enthusiasts from dressing in headdresses or war paint in an effort to develop cultural sensibility.
But it was the reaction of some enthusiasts after the national anthem that illuminated social media as the game unfolded.
There is no live edition of the anthem, CBSSports. com, but a pre-recorded edition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” released on the video card.
Chiefs defensive finisher Alex Okafor knelt and raised his fist in the air as two Chiefs players put their hands on their shoulders in solidarity.
The NFL brought the anthem to the game’s broadcast and posted it to the league’s social media account a while later, CBSSports. com.
The Houston Texans stayed in their dressing rooms and enthusiasts booed them as they left the tunnel at the end.
The boos continued as both groups walked into the midfield and stained hands, crossing their arms on the 50-meter line, which was intended to be a moment of silence.
Chief Chief Coach Andy Reid, Star Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Texans Star Quarterback Deshaun Watson and Texans Star Defensive End J. J. Watt was in the middle of the line before he wished himself luck.
“The moment of unity I personally believe was good. The boos were unfortunate at the time,” said the Texans’ defensive end, J. J. Watt said after the Chiefs emerged with a 34-20 win. “I can’t feel it. There was no flag in question, there was nothing related to it unless two groups came in combination to show their unity. “
Nationwide calls to resolve racial updouring have become less unusual since George Floyd’s death on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against the neck of a black man handcuffed for about 8 minutes for arrest. and accused of Floyd’s death, and protests continued to take over the nation.
Players from either group discussed how they would deal with the previous game in the weeks leading up to the inaugural game.
“We’ve had some player meetings and let everyone know we’re doing them,” said Tight Chiefs winger Travis Kelce. “You know, you can move on and whatever you think is the right resolution in your heart, you have your brother’s back and your brother’s back on this team. We made sure everyone was comfortable in that area.
Still, the boos of some enthusiasts were the main line of history on social media as the game unfolded.
“I didn’t hear the boos. I didn’t realize that,” said Texans coach Bill O’Brien. “I just think it was a smart thing, so I don’t know why they would do that. us just because we got here in the area as a visiting team. But yes, I think it was a great gesture. “
“The moment of unity I personally think was good,” Watt told James Palmer of the NFL Network. “I mean, the boos of that moment were unfortunate. I don’t quite perceive it. There was no flag in question. There was nothing, worried that they would not be two groups coming in combination to show their unity. “
Meanwhile, the decision to master native American images through the Chiefs was seen as a smart first step, but it also frustrated some of the franchise’s fans for a long time, adding some that were in the stands when the team was the first to take the box to the front. of a crowd, though smaller than the general one, the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I mean, we have to pay attention to the rules,” said Kory Noe, owner of a lot of cars in Stafford, Missouri. “I’m a big fan of the chop tomahawk. It’s just the Chiefs’ title song, as they’ll be hard not to do it if they win it. “
In fact, bosses are pushing for a sophisticated replacement for the tomahawk birthday party amid racist court cases. The plan is for goalmen to first use a closed palm instead of an open palm to sign the rhythm of a drum. or another guest of honor who plays a big drum before the game starts.
“We are running and arguing to re-teach and raise awareness of the sacred position of the drum in Native American culture, but also that it shows itself as a kind of central heartbeat of this culture,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said, “It’s simple to hold on to that arrangement to say, ‘Okay, that’s the kind of central rhythm of the stadium as well. ‘”
Adjustments in Kansas City came after several professional franchises, adding the Cleveland Indians of the Primary Baseball League, were emphasized to abandon racist images. the Redskins as their nickname.
“I see where the challenge is to have (a headdress) and face painting and everything, because it’s not a component of their culture,” said Jackson Allen, a 24-year-old sales representative from Springfield, Missouri. “It’s offensive. I can see the challenge. “
Bosses have worked with tribes for more than six years to distance the therself from photographs that could be racist. Every season, a game is committed to the heritage of Native Americans.
Students at Haskell University of the Indian Nations in Lawrence, Kansas, were among those calling for change.
“Using this pet and having this fan base made up of whites dressed in face paint and headdresses and making the axe-court war, gives them energy and gives them that sense of power, and then thinking there’s nothing to do this is just mind “Surprise me,” said William WilkinsonArray, a 22-year-old businessman from Madison , Wisconsin, which is Navajo, Cherokee, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara.
Wilkinson also said the Chiefs deserve to replace his nickname, the franchise has maintained for years that it bears the name H. Roe Bartle. The two-term philanthropist and mayor of Kansas City, whose nickname was “boss,” was instrumental in relocating Team Dallas.
Ty Rowton, a self-proclaimed superfan who will go to games as an X-Factor, attends with a foam arrowhead on his head, beads and a layer signed through the players, but replaced his costume: instead of playing the character Rowton he glued duct tape with Bible verses to his face.
He believes that the team’s settings are an overreaction and that the Chiefs stay with the tomahawk, calling it “something that bothers us in combination and that we do as one. This never intended to be disrespectful. “
Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center, said it was to use “a race from other people as a pet. “
It’s swept under the carpet,” he said, “but because the Washington team was so supportive that they made the change, now some of the others are born to feel the heat. I hope this is the birth of the end of this proper racism. “