Patrick Mahomes on Using His Platform: 'I'm Going to do Whatever I Can to Fight for Equality for All People'
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes hasn’t been afraid to use his platform this offseason, and he isn't planning on stopping any time soon.
In June, he joined a video directed towards the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. He and teammate Tyrann Mathieu worked with the Chiefs to push for a voting awareness and registration initiative. He partnered with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James for the same cause. Mahomes' offseason, in general, has been about not sticking to sports.
Mahomes expressed his reasoning for these choices over the course of the offseason and even spoke directly to those who disagreed with him. In light of the Jacob Blake shooting, he has joined several athletes once again in making their voices heard.
The quarterback told reporters on Saturday that he’s focussed on impacting change, even if it is controversial to some.
“I'm going do whatever I believe and what I believe is right and I'm going to do whatever I can to fight for equality for all people," Mahomes said. "I mean, I feel like I've shown that over this offseason. I'm going to continue that fight and I'm not worried about people and how they're going to do negative stuff back to me. I'm worried about doing what's right for humanity and making sure that all people feel equal.”
Mahomes also spoke about the potential of players once again kneeling during the national anthem in 2020. Mahomes didn't indicate if he and his teammates would be choosing this form of protest, but he emphasized that players who chose to do so aren’t trying to disrespect the flag or anyone who has served the country.
"It’s become something where it's whether or not you're going to kneel and instead of what the reason why the kneeling began in the beginning, which was social injustice and police brutality," Mahomes said. "And I feel like that's been the biggest thing, it's not necessarily the gesture, but we're trying to fix something, we're trying to make it where it's equal, everybody feels safe, everybody feels secure, everybody can go about living their lives and they really, truly care about the person next to him. And I feel like that's why people feel like it's become such a thing is because every single time you get interviewed or you go out and you're in public, people are asking 'are you going to kneel, are you not going to kneel?' They're not asking about the actual injustices that you're trying to fix and what you're trying to help the community with."
