Russell Wilson: Seahawks wouldn’t have played if they were scheduled this week

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Jim Trotter of NFL Media reported earlier in the day that a few prominent Black players are considering sitting out a game to make their feelings felt and force change.

The NFL season starts in two weeks. But Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said Friday if games were scheduled for this weekend, he and his teammates would be sitting out after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

“Yeah, for sure,” Wilson said on 710 ESPN Seattle, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “I think just witnessing what happened to Jacob and everything else and all the things have have added up to this, it’s devastating. It’s truly devastating just to watch that. This isn’t like this hasn’t been doing on for years. That’s the scary part and sad part. The difference now is we get to see it every day because of social media and phones and everything else. I think the world is truly seeing the ugliness of society at times, and I think what’s really disappointing is just knowing that as we athletes try to make a difference and sometimes people don’t want to listen and don’t want to recognize that that could have been us, that could be us. I think that’s a real reality. I think for us as a team, for the Seahawks, we’re definitely discussing what do we do next. How do we make a change? How do we cause movement, and how do we make a difference? We’re in the midst of all that right now. We don’t have weeks, and we don’t have months. We don’t have years to change it. We have to all do it together, and we’ve got to do it now, and we need change now, and we need people to make a difference now. We’re calling on people like [the media] to really help us along the way, too.”

Wilson added that, as a father of three Black children, he has fears for them.

“It’s been one of the most difficult years of my life, observing and knowing and understanding that I have children,” Wilson said. “I have three amazing, intelligent, athletic, talented, full-of-lie, full-of-huge-huge-smile type children that just bring joy and bring light to the world and anybody they’re ever around, and what I fear is one day they’re not here because of somebody else’s insecurities, because of the lack of empathy, because of racism. And that’s a real thought that, to be honest, you all may not have to deal with. When I saw that, the reality is the reality, and it’s an unfortunate one, so how do we change that reality?”