By Will Van Gelder ‘16

On numerous occasions throughout the last few years professional athletes have voiced their opinions on issues facing the nation. Most recently in December during a Cleveland Cavaliers and Brooklyn Nets game, the players on the Cavaliers removed their normal warm-up shirts prior to the game and played the entire pre-game shootaround in shirts that read “I can’t breathe,” which has come to symbolize the protest movement surrounding the deaths of black men Eric Garner and Michael Brown at the hands of police officers. Numerous other NBA players followed suit and wore the shirts during warm-ups. This (unsurprisingly) has been causing controversy, as some were in favor of the NBA players wearing these poignant and timely shirts, while others were angry that professional athletes would presume to share their thoughts on actual issues.

Famous professional athletes are seemingly involved in everything; they are constantly on television and are the subject of various news stories that many people see almost daily, and thousands of people follow them on social media sites. Because many athletes are often in the public eye, they are in a perfect position to state their beliefs on issues that grip our nation.

Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls elaborated his reasons for taking a stand on the issues revolving around the deaths of Garner and Brown. “Usually athletes tend to stay away from this but I just felt as if I had to do something about it.” Rose epitomizes exactly what I believe most professional athletes were feeling at this time.

The players had every right to wear these shirts and state their viewpoints on this controversial and divisive issue. People tend to treat major league sports players as talented people who serve solely for their entertainment. This thought process places athletes in the unusual situation of being looked on as famous athletes who people enjoy watching but at the same time being regulated as simply entertainers.

While this may be true in literal terms, sports players are people just as we are, and they have every right to free speech that is afforded to all citizens of the United States. Their very public position on the national stage also gives them a prime position to take a stand on many issues. Players on sports teams generally have hundreds of thousands of followers on various social media sites, which allows them to express their opinions with one simple click of a button. Many people do not want to read or see the opinions of others, particularly if the opinions are ones they do not agree with, but athletes are people who deserve to share what they want to share and to say what they want to say.

Will is an Opinions editor  for The Warrior.