“I’ve heard from people that even though they might support the causes I’m fighting for, they don’t necessarily agree with my methods. I understand that.” He finds me on the side of the stage, flashing a quick smile at me before turning to walk across the stage. I don’t want that little speck of attention to mean anything to me, but it does. In this room full of people, he sought me out. We shared something that nobody else knows about and it makes those butterflies that only seem to make an appearance around him flutter back to the surface. “Football is one of America’s favorite pastimes, fans are coming to games to escape the reality of their life to watch a game for a few hours, and why should I take that away? Do my job. Hashtag shut up and play, right? Leave the politics to the politicians. I’ve heard all of you. I have. So now, I’m asking that you hear me.

“As you all know, I’ve grown up with football. My dad, who wishes he could be here tonight, retired from this great game in 1992, ten years after he suited up for his first professional game. When he retired, there were three African American head coaches. The League was almost seventy percent Black, but only three head coaches were. That was a problem, but that was also progress.

“Now, I want to fast-forward to this year. The demographics are still pretty much the same. The League is still made up of nearly seventy percent Black players, which means there has to have been some progress on the coaching front, right? Wrong. Today, there are only two Black head coaches. There are only five Black general managers. And owners? Oh, there are none.” He pauses and lets the statistics he’s just rattled off sink into everyone in the room. “In an industry that could not continue without Black players, we’re still struggling to hold a position of real power inside it. I’ve been told I shouldn’t be a quarterback, I’d be more successful at running back . . . and that was after I got a ring. Black coaches with comparable records to their white counterparts are being fired while white coaches are given another chance. Discipline within the League isn’t evenly distributed, with Black players getting harsher punishments than their white teammates. If this is happening in the League, if systemic and overt racism affect men who are often well known and respected, what do you think is happening to Black people across this country?”

Oh. Shit.

I find Mr. Mahler in the crowd and even from beneath the harsh pink tint of his skin, I can still see the heat rising in his face. He looks pissed.