NFL Team Suffers Consequences for Signing Player Who Posted Graphic Police Execution Image
When the New York Giants surprisingly skipped on USC QB Sam Darnold in the NFL draft this spring, he fell to the Giants’ local rivals, the Jets. For once, people said, the stepchild might finally become the darling of Gotham.
After all, the Giants were the ones who snagged Eli Manning as their franchise QB; he’s won two Super Bowl rings. The Jets, meanwhile, put their franchise QB eggs in the basket of a guy named Mark Sanchez. If you’re a casual fan and don’t know who Sanchez is, just Google “butt fumble.” I’ll wait. Back? So, yeah, that explains the relationship between the two teams.
That seemed to be on the verge of changing. After all, with Darnold, being a Jet could mean that you’re the top cat in town, or perhaps the gold-medal kid with the heavyweight crown. Or you could be a degenerate who posts pictures of cops getting executed on social media; that too.
Yes, in today’s proof that a single draft pick doesn’t exactly change an organization, Blue Lives Matter is excoriating the Jets after the club decided to ask the pro-police organization for a partnership despite signing one of the most virulently anti-police players in the league to a 3-year contract.
We’re going to have to back up a few years for this one. During his time with the Cleveland Browns, Isaiah Crowell posted a picture to social media of a police officer having his throat slashed. This didn’t just happen in a vacuum, either, as the post was made just after five Dallas police officers were killed during a Black Lives Matter march.
Crowell donated a game check to police causes but received no official league punishment. His apology for the incident wasn’t exactly unequivocal, either.
“By posting that picture, I became part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution,” Crowell said. “I know this may not change your mind about me and I know I can’t take the post back, but I’m sorry.”
Notice the wording: he wasn’t the problem, he became part of the problem. It’s not totally his fault, he was just joining in! For all of the money these guys make, you would think they could afford better P.R.
Anyway, fast forward to this year and the Jets’ Anthony Bulak sent a letter to Blue Lives Matter founder Joe Imperatrice proposing a partnership, according to the New York Post.
“With the NFL season right around the corner, there is no better time to open up a conversation about how your business/organization can benefit from a partnership with the New York Jets,” Bulak wrote.
It only took minutes for Imperatrice to put the kibosh on that.
“Although I’d love to work with an NFL team right now I feel it is not the right time. All over the United States players feel entitled to disrespect our first responders, our military members both past and present and our flag. These players make more money in a season than some people make in a lifetime and their ‘Issues’ are made up, exaggerated, and more times than not false,” he wrote.
“Once again I do appreciate the offer but revenue we have could better be spent on the families of officers killed in the line of duty protecting the ignorance of these individuals rather than contributing to their paycheck.”
Bulak pointed out that none of the Jets players knelt during the national anthem, to which Imperatrice noted that Crowell was just signed to a 3-year deal, and this is more of what he was responding to.
Look, I don’t particularly feel anyone should be punished in perpetuity for offensive behavior. However, you do have to actually make amends. Crowell needs to admit that he’s not just “part of the problem,” he needs to fully admit that he is the problem and that he needs some form of professional help. I also think that donating a game check to police causes is a bit different than working with police officers on an ongoing basis to make amends.
Crowell hasn’t done that, and the Jets are in no way going to try and encourage it. Same old Crowell, same old Jets — and now, the team is suffering the consequences for it.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
