Blue Lives Matter Refuses to Partner with Jets, Cites NFL Protests And Isaiah Crowell Controversy
New York Jets' senior manager of partnerships Anthony Bulak reached out to Blue Lives Matter founder Joe Imperatrice in hopes of partnering with the organization this season only to be rejected immediately, according to The New York Post.
Imperatrice refused the proposal on the grounds that the current NFL political climate does not align with the group's mission of respecting first responders. The pro-cop non-profit cited the current NFL protests as a sign of disrespect towards "our first responders, our military members both past and present and our flag."
After Bulak pointed out that "the Jets have never had a player protest our anthem," and have "always been supportive of our police, firefighters, EMTs, etc. and will continue to do so," per emails obtained by The Post, Imperatrice called the team out for signing former Cleveland running back Isaiah Crowell, who posted a controversial Instagram in 2016 that depicted a figure slashing a cop's throat.
Crowell had captioned the since-deleted post, "Mood: They give polices all types of weapons and they continuously choose to kill us...#Weak."
“If I am correct the JETS may have signed an individual who depicted a Grim Reaper slicing the throat of a police officer,” Imperatrice wrote alongside a photo of the controversial post.
Crowell has deleted the image and apologized but was never disciplined.
The Jets signed Crowell to a three-year deal in the spring. The 25-year-old running back saw only three touches in his Jets preseason debut, but rushed twice for six yards and one TD.
