Alexander Mattison Criticizes Fans Who Booed Moment of Unity Before Chiefs-Texans Game

The 2020 NFL season kicked off on Thursday night with the defending champion Chiefs handling the Texans fairly easily in a 34-20 victory on national TV.

Although the game itself provided some notable moments, one of the main things that stood out actually happened prior to kickoff. The Texans remained in the visiting locker room at Arrowhead Stadium for the national anthem, but then came out and linked arms with Chiefs players for a moment of unity against racism and inequality.

The stadium PA announced described it as "a moment of silence dedicated to the ongoing fight for equality in our country."

But instead of silence, there were audible boos from the limited-capacity crowd of 16,000 in Kansas City.

That bothered a lot of people, including Texans star J.J. Watt, who called it "unfortunate." The players weren't kneeling during the anthem or even engaging in any sort of protest. They were simply coming together in an act of unity against racism. How can that possibly be a bad thing?

Vikings running back Alexander Mattison had some thoughts on the matter, so he took to Twitter and wrote an excellent thread.

"It’s sickening to see people booing the moment of silence before the game!" Mattison wrote. "Would you boo a moment of silence for 9/11? And then people have the audacity to say 'this is our escape from the problems in the world, let us just enjoy the game.' For a lot of us, as soon as we step off that field we are BLACK men in a world that sees us as a threat. There is no escape for us and it’s been that way since our grandparents and great grandparents were fighting [on the] front lines for this country and came home, not as a hero, but a BLACK man... Returning home to get spit on, beat in the streets, and discriminated against."

"If we can’t escape, why should we put aside our feelings just to make fans feel comfortable in their 'escape?' Why is it that fans can’t take one MOMENT of silence, but we have to live day to day in silence and in fear. They’ve been silencing us for so long.. not anymore. Black, white, or indifferent we stand together. This is our platform as influencers to peacefully bring awareness and promote change in this world. If you really can’t enjoy the game because of a moment of silence, then maybe you should be reading a book on the history of this country instead, so you understand why we stand together through this. Maybe you’ll understand or maybe you won’t but #EnoughisEnough #StopKillingUs."

In that seven-tweet thread, Mattison lends some important perspective to a subject that shouldn't be as political or controversial as it seems to be. Many people upset about social justice demonstrations at NFL games or other sporting events have said that they just want to sports to be their escape, but that's an inherently privileged way of thinking. As Mattison explains, many NFL players and Black people across this country don't have the luxury of "escaping" from the issue of racism and injustice.

The Vikings have announced that they will "bring awareness to social justice issues" during this Sunday's game against the Packers. That includes messages on their pre-game warmup shirts and players wearing helmet decals. The Vikings will also be honoring the family of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May.

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