Jaguars' Doug Marrone Responds to Peyton Thompson Statement and Impact

Peyton Thompson hasn’t been a part of the Jacksonville Jaguars team for two seasons now, but on Friday June 5, 2020, he saw his impact continue to be felt.

Jaguars players, staff and coaches, led by Head Coach Doug Marrone, held a peaceful protest at TIAA Bank Field before marching to the steps of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to continue speaking to and with law enforcement about the importance of shining on light on brutality against people of color in the United States. Emotional speeches from players and coaches alike highlighted a united effort to kickstart conversations that can lead to healing the racial divide in our country. The march itself was somewhat kickstarted by a conversation Marrone had earlier in the week.

On Monday, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement in solidarity with the outcry across the country following the death of George Floyd. Players across the league and retired players felt it was hypocritical, with multiple stating they were told if they kneeled with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016 and 2017 that their job security would be threatened.

Peyton Thompson called out the NFL's statement, the Jaguars organization and Head Coach Doug Marrone on racism this week. Thompson and Marrone have since spoke and Marrone revealed he learned a lot. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Thompson, who played for Jacksonville from 2014-2017, was one of those players to speak out on Monday. Thompson was a member of the 2017 Jaguars team that protested during their regular season game against the Baltimore Ravens in London. Players locked arms on the sideline with head coach Doug Marrone, owner Shad Khan, and each other, while a number of other players also kneeled, showing solidarity with Kaepernick, Eric Reid, and other protestors. However, Thompson says even getting to that point caused division within the organization.

"The statement issued by the @nfl is complete trash," Thompson tweeted. "I specifically remember Tom Coughlin and Doug Marrone telling us we couldn't kneel. Thank God we had an owner of minority who weighed in and got us to kneel together! My job security was on the line if I supported my people."

On Friday while participating in the march, Marrone admitted, Thompson’s initial tweet on Monday had stung.

“Peyton Thompson put out that tweet. To me, obviously it was hurtful, because I really didn’t have that stance and I thought I clearly communicated that to the players.”

Following Monday’s tweet, the two spoke on Tuesday. Thompson called it a “healthy” conversation where the two “spoke of [Marrone’s] career’s work on equality and his efforts to make his players feel supported as well as the need to separate his actions from others in the organization.”

Marrone said he and coaches told players during their Monday meeting, “‘Hey, we need to talk about these things and get those things out there.’ We didn’t have a team meeting planned for Tuesday virtually.”

Marrone says looking back, that when making that initial statement in Monday’s team meeting, he went “not in as much depth as now looking back I wish I would have.”

But, he added, after speaking with Thompson the following day, it became clearer the responsibility players will place on his shoulders for the entire organization, from top to bottom.

“When you are a head coach, I’ve said this many times, you represent a lot of different things depending on how people look at you. I think I go back, and I told the players this, even though you are the head coach and you say, ‘It is your right,’ but then if you don’t follow it up and really hammer it home and there’s things going on that are confusing, whether it’s job security or things of that nature that have been mentioned to the player, that’s where I’ve learned I have to do a better job.”

In his statement on Tuesday, Thompson said “The Jaguars have the opportunity for a do-over! I'm hopeful that Doug's activism will lead the charge for change this time around.”

The @NFL along with all organizations continue to to release statements full of fluff. Who will start keeping it real and find a solution? pic.twitter.com/Lghj1gLIHd
— Peyton Thompson (@tattedNspatted) June 2, 2020

And now, according to Doug Marrone, this effort to lead the charge in change will extend to the players rights to peaceful protest.

“From ownership to Dave Caldwell to myself, we’ve told them how we feel and that no player will be punished in our organizations by expressing their rights.”

Jaguars owner Shad Khan—one of only two minority owners in the NFL—released an op-ed stating, "Racism, in all its forms, will kill. It kills people, it kills communities, it kills dreams, it kills hope."

Click here to read the full op-ed from Khan.

On Friday, responding to a video of Chris Conley speaking at the beginning of the march, Thompson tweeted, “Yessssssssssssssssssss let's be first at everything in this challenging time,” showing his support for his former team as they began to make the difference he hoped to see all along.

Black lives matter.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) May 30, 2020

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