Lynn wants social change, not just statements: 'What is this going to lead to?'
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn hasn't followed his peers in issuing a statement about racial injustice because he's more concerned about the ultimate resolution.
One of four minority head coaches in the NFL, Lynn participated in protests against police brutality in Huntington Beach, California, after George Floyd was killed by a white officer in Minneapolis last week.
"After an hour or so, I sought out the leader and we had a conversation and we talked about what was the endgame," Lynn told LZ Granderson of the Los Angeles Times in an extended Q-and-A. "After the protests, what is this going to lead to? That's when I got a little disappointed because there was no plan. The protest was there to help people express themselves, but there was no endgame, no plan.
"All of the sacrifice and protest, I wanted to know at the end of this, if something was going to be done. I don't want to be doing this again 20 years from now, and so I'm looking for ways to sit at the table and have a conversation about this broken system."
He added: "But this stuff that's taking place with police brutality and unarmed black men dying and white people feeling like they can use their privilege to threaten black people like that white woman did in Central Park, that's ridiculous. How do we effect that type of change? Where's the accountability for that kind of (expletive)? That's where I'm at right now. I'm angry, I'm pissed off, and I don't want to just put out a pretty statement."
The sports world has been flooded with statements since Derek Chauvin held his knee against Floyd's neck for over eight minutes while Floyd was handcuffed on the ground. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was among those to issue a statement, saying his league is committed to serving as an agent for social change.
In his interview with Granderson, Lynn said he was recently pulled over for a "bogus" reason.
"The lights come on, I pull over, and the first thing the police officer asked (was) if I was on parole or if I had ever been to jail," he recounted.
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