INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL is premiering its most recent installment of the league’s Say Their Stories series highlighting what the phrase "Black Lives Matter" means to Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard.
Say Their Stories is a season-long NFL initiative to continue the theme of social justice and raise awareness of systemic racism that has resonated throughout the nation, amplifying the names and stories of victims of police brutality through the voices of players.
Leonard, who has been vocal about racial inequalities in our country, narrates the piece and discusses his experience of being racially profiled last year at a restaurant with his family, which ultimately inspired his decision to wear the statement “All Black Lives Matter” on the back of his helmet this season.
“We need people to really just listen. Listen and understand our pain," said Leonard about his participation in the initiative. "They never feel our pain and why we hurt so much. Why are we saying 'Black lives matter?' We just want you to understand. If you can just listen to one story and tell your kids that (racial profiling) is not the right thing to do, that's what it's going to have to take because kids learn from their parents. As long as parents tell their kids that this is not the right way to do things, then the world will change.”
“Yes, all lives do matter, but Black lives – right now – those are the ones that really need help.”
Watch the PSA in the video below.
