With a growing number of athletes finding a voice to protest, the acts of defiance are seeping their way onto the field itself, during the game.
Allen Robinson didn’t take a knee or raise a fist during the national anthem that preceded the Jaguars’ home game against the Ravens on Sunday. But after getting in the end zone, the Jacksonville wide receiver appeared to use his platform to join the protesters furious over police violence against black people.
Robinson, after catching a 3-yard touchdown, sent the ball flying into the stands and raised his arms. Not in celebration, but in what looked to be a “hands up, don’t shoot” pose, which originated following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
There have been two high-profile deaths of black men at police’s hands over the past week, one in Charlotte and one in Tulsa. Protesters rallied outside the Panthers game, and Robinson appeared to gesture in solidarity.
Earlier this week, the 23-year-old wide receiver out of Penn State reacted to a report that said Terence Crutcher, who was killed in Tulsa, had his hands up when he was shot.