Sean Payton: "22 weeks from today for Change"; a response to Floyd and Arbery deaths
New Orleans Saints Head Coach, Sean Payton, addressed the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery via Twitter on Tuesday. The Super Bowl 44 winning coach posted pictures of Arbery (25) and Floyd (46) with the caption:
Both Floyd and Arbery are African-American men. Both of their deaths were captured on video. In February, Ahmaud Arbery lost his life after being gunned down while jogging near his home in Georgia. Last week, George Floyd's demise came after an MPD Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes as three fellow officers watched. In both cases, the District Attorney offices were slow to process arrests. Tensions within Minneapolis' African-American communities boiled-over into demonstrations protesting the handling of the MPD officers who were complicit in his death.
Most NFL coaches have remained silent. Miami Dolphins HC Brian Flores wrote about his frustrations on the Floyd killing last week. It wasn't until today another NFL coach touched the subject. That coach was Sean Payton. In Payton's last sentence of his tweet, he urges the citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, “22 weeks from today for change”. Normally, NFL coaching ranks are apolitical. Payton's departure from the norm was a surprise. The United States Presidential election will occur on November 3rd, 2020. Payton joined his Saints players, DE Cam Jordan, DB Malcolm Jenkins, and LB Demario Davis in voicing the need for change.
Payton's first public comments about the murder of Floyd comes just a day after New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson released an official statement in response to the tragedy.
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