Here’s the Power of LaFleur’s Locker-Room Analogy
GREEN BAY, Wis. – For the second time this week, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur spoke eloquently about racial issues and he and his team’s desire to be an instrument of change in society.
Here’s the line from Thursday that resonated with me:
“What’s so great about our sport and the essence of team is you’ve got a bunch of people from different backgrounds coming together in pursuit of a common goal. And if our society could emulate that, or could see how we operate as a team, our world would be a much better place.”
I grew up in a quiet little town called Lyons. It’s probably not on any map. It consisted of one church, three bars and not much else. I went to school in Burlington, which is located perhaps a half-hour from Kenosha. At the time, Burlington essentially was an all-white community.
I went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater mostly because its Hall of Fame football coach, Bob Berezowitz, was foolish enough to let me to play on his perennial powerhouse Division III team. I don’t know, maybe he needed a tackling dummy and someone to boost the GPA. Whatever.
I got thrown in the back locker room with the rest of the freshmen. The guy to my left was black. Growing up in Burlington, I essentially had no experience being around minorities. So, it was odd and a bit uncomfortable. What did I know? I was young and stupid.
Maybe he grew up in a more diverse neighborhood – I never asked him – but he was more outgoing. We hit it off fairly quickly. It’s not like we became best friends or anything but, as teammates do, they talk and joke. One day, he wasn’t his gregarious self. I asked him what was up. He said his mom had been diagnosed with cancer.
Boom. The lightbulb went on in a flash. Honestly, I remember it today.
As odd as it is to say almost 30 years later, that was the day when it became clear that we’re all the same. Black, white, whatever. We’re all people and we’re all dealing with things. My mom had MS, her mobility wasn’t getting any better and my dad wasn’t getting any healthier to work and take care of her. He was dealing with the same family pain.
LaFleur’s right. Locker rooms are remarkable places. Having been in a diverse locker room in college and now entering my 13th season covering the Packers, nobody cares about the color of your skin, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you’re religious or atheist. Are you working hard? Are you doing the right thing and not complaining? Can you help us win? If you can answer those three questions with a “yes,” you’re in – even a no-talent like me, who had no business being on a college football field.
No, the “real world” isn’t a locker room. But what if we simply all pulled the same direction rather than being pulled apart, which seems to be the goal of too many people in today’s society?
The great Martin Luther King Jr., of course, said it best.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Most people I hang out with, whether it’s my far-flung family or my fellow reporters on the Packers beat, view people by the content of their character. I want to succeed. I want you to succeed. I really do think the overwhelming majority of us, whether you’re a linebacker, police officer or writer, view life the same way. Really, who cheers because so many inner-city residents are living in poverty? Who cheers because helpless kids are doomed by attending some underfunded school? Who cheers the big-city murder rates? Who cheered the death of George Floyd or the shooting of Jacob Blake?
Nobody I know of – and probably nobody you know of, either.
I know all seems lost today but it’s not. The doom and gloom is shoved down our throats constantly. Social media is filled with twisted quotes and cleverly edited videos that tell half-truths. It’s tiring. I’m tired. You’re probably tired, too. But, for the overwhelming majority of people of all races, we want the right things for everybody.
We’ll get there, somehow, if we all work as a team.
