Ravens Unveil Podcast About What It Means to be Black in NFL
OWINGS MILL, Md. — The Ravens have launched a new podcast series, Black in the NFL, hosted by staff writer Clifton Brown and produced by Blue Wire.
In this 10-episode season that opened Oct. 6, Brown explores what it means to be Black in the NFL today.
“Race impacts the NFL in unique and challenging ways, whether it’s noticed or unnoticed, spoken or unspoken,” stated Brown. “The time has come for us to speak about it.”
In Episode 1, “Shut Up and Play,” Brown tackles a phrase that Black athletes have heard for decades. NFL fans cheer on their favorite players and wear their jerseys, but some people don’t want to hear players talk about their lives and beliefs outside of football, particularly when it comes to race. Athletes, and even members of the sports media, are told to “stick to sports.”
Featured guests on the upcoming podcast are former NFL long snapper and United States Army Green Beret Nate Boyer, sociologist and civil rights activist Dr. Harry Edwards and Ravens QB Robert Griffin III.
Other episodes will take on national topics, such as policing and voter suppression, and NFL-specific topics such as kneeling, the experience of Black quarterbacks and challenges of coaches and front-office executives to climb the ladder.
“It’s a unique place to be and has given me new perspective on the sport and its intersection with who I am,” Brown added. “Seventy percent of NFL players are Black. The Ravens have a Black MVP quarterback. They hired the first Black general manager, and they have one of the NFL’s biggest Black fan bases.”
Black in the NFL is the third podcast in the Ravens Podcast Network and joins the long-running The Lounge and What Happened to that Guy?. Listeners can download all three wherever they get their podcasts, including iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, PlayerFM and Google Play Music. New episodes of Black in the NFL will drop every other week.
“The Baltimore Ravens have led by example when it comes to confronting racial and social injustice,” Blue Wire CEO Kevin Jones said. “The organization is committed to doing the right thing and using its platforms in innovative ways beyond football. Cliff specifically provides incredible personal insight and history to the podcast, and it’s been a privilege to have Blue Wire support his voice.”
— The Baltimore Ravens
