Texas players marched with coach Tom Herman and members of the Austin Police Department to the state capitol building Thursday afternoon, joining the national protests against racism after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Herman and his wife and other Longhorn coaches joined the players as they walked from the north endzone of Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium about a mile away to the Capitol grounds. Together — players, coaches, police — knelt for 9 minutes, about the same amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.
The Texas football team has reached the Capitol.
Everyone is now taking 9-minute knee to remember George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/8Rnx8JDupv
— Jake García (@Jake_M_Garcia) June 4, 2020
“This protest won’t just stop here,” junior safety Caden Sterns said, according to The Associated Press. “To the white community … if you want change like you say you do, you must change. What I mean is, you must realize, and the oppressor must realize, you are oppressing.”
Asked about the march, Herman declined to comment, saying it was about the players. “This is their day,” he told OrangeBloods.com. “It’s not about me at all.”
Several Longhorns have been vocal in addressing the national protests, with wide receiver Brennan Eagles going so far as to say on Twitter that: “I’m not going to play another snap knowing what’s going on in our society due to color and the system being broken. Let’s look at the bigger picture.”
Herman has been supportive He told the Austin American-Statesman the average fan can’t understand what it’s like to be a black athlete at the university.
“There’s a double standard maybe a little bit,” he said. “We’re going to pack 100,000 people into DKR and millions watch on TV that are predominantly white — not all of them certainly, but most of ’em white. We’re gonna cheer when they score touchdowns, and we’re gonna hug our buddy when they get sacks or an interception.
“But we gonna let them date our daughter? Are we going to hire them in a position of power in our company? That’s the question I have for America. You can’t have it both ways.
“And if you’re going to cheer them and love them for three-and-a-half hours a Saturday in the fall, you better have the same feelings for them off the field, because they’re human beings. They deserve the same amount of respect and human rights that all of us do in this country when we agreed on the social contract to be a member of the United States.”
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger also posted a video on May 30 saying he stands with the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Playing college football has taught me a ton of lessons,” Ehlinger said, noting that he grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. “The one I’m most thankful for is the relationships and friendships that I’ve built with my teammates. I’ve realized that nobody should be treated differently because of their skin color.”