MISSION, Kan. — The roughly 17,000 fans of the Kansas City Chiefs who filed into Arrowhead Stadium for a masked and socially distanced start to the NFL season Thursday found themselves thrust into the middle of the nationwide discussion about social injustice.
The Super Bowl champions had already prohibited fans from wearing headdresses or war paint amid a push for more cultural sensitivity. And along with the NFL, the Chiefs had planned a series of videos and other on-field demonstrations in the lead-up to the NFL season that were designed to highlight systemic racism and social injustice.
But it was the response by some fans during the national anthem that lit up social media as the game played out.
The Houston Texans remained in the locker room during the anthem, and fans booed them when they emerged from the tunnel at its conclusion. The booing continued as the two teams walked to midfield and shook hands, their interlocked arms stretched from one end zone to the other during what was supposed to be a moment of silence.
“The moment of unity I personally thought was good. The booing was unfortunate in that moment,” Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said after the Chiefs emerged with a 34-20 victory. “I don’t fully understand that. There was no flag involved, there was nothing involved with that besides two teams coming together to show unity.”
Nationwide calls to address racial issues have become more prevalent since Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into the handcuffed Black man’s neck for nearly eight minutes during an arrest. Four officers were fired and have been charged in Floyd’s death, and protests have continued to grip the nation.
Players from both teams discussed how they would handle pregame in the weeks leading up to the opener. The Chiefs chose to stay on the field for the national anthem while the Texans decided to remain in the locker room.
“We had a few player meetings and let everybody know that we had their back,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “You know, you can go ahead and whatever you feel is the right decision in your heart, you have your brother’s back, and you have your brother’s support on this team. We made sure everybody was comfortable in that area.”
Still, the booing by some fans became the dominant story line on social media as the game played out.
“I didn’t really hear the booing. I didn’t notice that,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “I just I thought that that was a nice thing to do. So I’m not sure why they would do that. Maybe they were just booing us because we had just come on the field as the visiting team. But yeah, I thought that that was a very nice gesture.”
Meanwhile, the move to rein in Native American imagery by the Chiefs has been seen as a good first step, but it also has frustrated some of the franchise’s longtime fans, including some who were in the stands as the team became the first to take the field in front of a crowd _ albeit a smaller than normal one _ during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think it’s a little overboard, but I mean, we’ve got to listen to the rules,” said Kory Noe, who owns a car lot in Stafford, Missouri. “I’m a big fan of the tomahawk chop. It’s just been the Chiefs’ signature song since they started and it’s going to be hard not to do it if they take it away.”
In fact, the Chiefs are pushing a subtle change to the tomahawk chop celebration amid complaints that it’s racist. The plan is for cheerleaders to use a closed first instead of an open palm to signal the beating of a drum. The team typically has a celebrity or other guest of honour beat a large drum before the start of the game.
“We’ve started to work and started some discussions about trying again to educate and make people aware of the sacred position of the drum in the American Indian culture, but also that it’s seen as sort of the heartbeat of that culture,” Chiefs president Mark Donovan said “It’s easy to latch onto that, say, `OK, it’s kind of the heartbeat of the stadium, too.”’
The changes in Kansas City came after several professional franchises, including the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball, have been pushed to drop racist imagery. The biggest victory for supporters of Native Americans may have come before the start of the football season, when the Washington franchise dropped Redskins as its nickname.
“I see where the problem is with having (a headdress) and doing the face paint and everything, because you’re not a part of their culture,” said Jackson Allen, a 24-year-old sales rep from Springfield, Missouri. “It’s offensive. I can see the problem.”
The Chiefs have worked with tribes for the past six years to distance themselves from imagery that could be considered racist. Each season, a game is dedicated to Native American heritage.
Students at nearby Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, were among those who demanded changes.
“Using this mascot and having this fan base of predominantly white people wearing face paint and headdresses and doing the tomahawk chop, and it energizes them and gives them this sense of power, and then thinking there is nothing wrong with doing that is just mind boggling to me,” said William Wilkinson, a 22-year-old business major from Madison, Wisconsin, who is Navajo, Cherokee, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara.
Wilkinson also said the Chiefs should change their nickname, although the franchise has maintained for years that it is named in honour of H. Roe Bartle. The philanthropist and two-term Kansas City mayor, whose nickname was “Chief,” was instrumental in helping to relocate the team from Dallas.
Ty Rowton, a self-described superfan who goes to games as the X-Factor, often attends with a foam Arrowhead on his head, beads and a cape signed by players. But he has made one change to his costume: Instead of face paint, Rowton affixed duct tape with Bible verses to his face.
He thinks the team’s changes are an overreaction and that the Chiefs should keep the tomahawk chop, call it “something that gets us riled up together and that we do as one. It has never been meant to be disrespectful.”
Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center, said it’s wrong to use “a race of people as a mascot.”
“It has always been swept under the rug,” she said, “but because the Washington team was leaned on so hard that they made the change, now some of the other ones are starting to feel the heat. I hope this is the beginning of the end of this acceptable racism.”
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
