The Clemson Tigers program as a whole may not be the model for how to handle situations where race is involved, the quarterback and leader of one of the winningest programs over the last 5 years is taking a stand alongside teammates who are protesting against systematic racism and police brutality.
Trevor Lawrence’s statement on Black Lives Matter and his public support of the African-American individuals he plays alongside on Saturdays comes on the heels of the Clemson Football program dealing with issues involving race within their own ranks.
As a result of the scandal, Clemson Football Head Coach Dabo Swinney has been forced to make multiple statements regarding the methods he chose to handle a racially charged situation involving one of his assistant coaches and a black Clemson player.
It has previously been reported that Dabo Swinney at the time made a considerable effort to discourage an unknown amount of players from peacefully protesting the 2017 incident where Danny Pearman used a racial slur while addressing a black player due to his belief that it would be a team distraction.
The move to silence the protests has been met with mixed reactions on both sides of the debate, nonetheless, it seems Trevor Lawrence plans to stand on the side of those most affected by police brutality and racism, even while his coach may not be as on board with players using their platforms to highlight issues outside of the gridiron as he would like.
Trevor Lawrence, as well as many other high profile athletes, have publicly excoriated those individuals who believe athletes should simply play sports and leave the politics to politicians, a stance introduced by Fox News host Laura Ingraham who infamously told Lebron James to “shut up and dribble” during her show on live Tv.
For anyone missing the days where athletes lived in invisible bubbles and remained silent on issues of national importance, you may want to find another hobby as athletes around the world, and in this case, Trevor Lawrence is drawing a line in the sand and shattering the notion that Athletes should turn a blind eye to injustice.
Flip through the pages to see what Trevor Lawrence had to say to the shut up and dribble crowd.
