Coach Brown speaks on the importance of listening while working through the racial injustice in our country.
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00:00 Hi, Mac. You put another video statement out this weekend, a very pointed statement.
00:06 Why did you feel it was important that you do that?
00:09 Mark, we, Jerriam and I had talked about it.
00:13 We were going to put one out before the season anyway, that we felt like represented our
00:18 team and our staff.
00:21 And then when the most recent incident came up, we had a lot of talks with our players,
00:28 and some were very upset and very bothered.
00:31 And then we had an hour and a half conversation in our staff room one day.
00:37 And these are guys that work together, and they're very comfortable with each other.
00:41 And it was not the most comfortable conversation.
00:43 There were a lot of things that were brought up that were sensitive and hard with each
00:48 other.
00:49 And I just felt like that I needed to ask all of them to help me, because I haven't
01:00 been the victim of racism, help me represent them and help me say what they would like
01:06 to say because of the voice that I have.
01:09 So I went to, we asked all of our players, talk about what you would want to say.
01:16 Talk about what you would want to be in the video.
01:18 We went to our coaching staff and said the same thing.
01:21 And then we had them all read through the notes that we took, and we all felt like that
01:26 this was the voice that we wanted to have.
01:30 And really, the voice was not about anything other than being fair to people.
01:35 And it's not people get bothered by Black Lives Matter and say, well, white lives matter
01:40 too.
01:42 Really and truly, when you look at it right now, this is about racial injustice to black
01:48 people.
01:50 And that's why we need to make sure that we listen and learn.
01:55 And I've learned so much from these guys, these players, about what they've put up with
02:00 in their lives.
02:02 And our bubble, again, is safe.
02:06 And it's a cool environment where we laugh and cut up with each other.
02:10 But we don't see race.
02:12 And I've thought what an awful time in 2020 that we're still talking about how somebody
02:18 looks.
02:19 And we're better than that.
02:21 And we're smarter than that.
02:23 And I felt like it was time for me to say that for our team and for our staff.
02:30 And I really feel like that after the fact, I'm so glad that it represented our team and
02:38 staff and that they had so much input into it.
02:42 And it was my words that wanted to say what they felt.
02:46 And I feel the same way.
02:47 I obviously wouldn't have said it unless I felt the same way.
02:51 And even some of the players said, you know, you're going to make some people mad.
02:54 And I said, you know what, we need to make people listen.
02:58 All we need to do is learn and listen.
03:01 And if we're treating people more fairly because we learn and listen from those that are being
03:06 treated unfairly, life's better.
03:10 And it could be about any subject for someone who's not been treated properly.
03:16 But that's the voice.
03:19 And what I've tried to really do, and I've done a better job of it of late, is listen.
03:25 So I'll just call players and ask them, what do you think?
03:29 What's going on?
03:31 Tell me.
03:32 Tell me what you need.
03:34 Tell me how you feel.
03:37 And when a young guy says he's afraid to get in the car, he's afraid to walk, he's afraid
03:43 to jog, when a parent tells you they're afraid that their child, they're afraid to let them
03:49 drive, we're better than that.
03:52 And we need to get that fixed.
03:54 And that was my voice.
03:55 Hey, first, I just wanted to personally thank you for your role in the social injustice
04:00 stuff.
04:01 And very personally, I've been so thankful for you lending your voice to that.
04:05 So just as an aside.
04:07 Thank you, Isaac.
04:09 We have to be very careful that anything outside of football doesn't disrupt our team.
04:19 But I felt very strongly about this cause.
04:23 And some people think it's political.
04:25 I haven't got a political bone in my body.
04:28 It's what's right.
04:29 Yes, sir.
04:30 We have to have a program on being fair and being consistent and doing what's right.
04:34 Yes, sir.
04:35 That's all I'm asking.
04:36 I'm asking everybody that feels differently, stop, take a deep breath and listen and try
04:43 to learn from it and see if you would feel comfortable if that was your son.
04:49 And so I appreciate you saying that, sir.