Protests in sports because of injustice are nothing new, though they are quite uncommon. Perhaps the most famous one happened during the 1968 Olympics, when two African - American Athletes, 1st Place winner Tommie Smith, and 3rd place winner John Carlos raised their fists in the air to salute to “Black Pride.” Up until recently, this was the only notable political protest in sports. It seemed that in the years that followed, the competitions conducted on the various rinks, fields, pitches, stadiums, and courts were established as apolitical, with that salute being the lone and outstanding example.

However, on Sunday, November 30, 2014, that barrier seemed to be broken, with five players of the St. Louis Rams - all black as well, protested the Court proceedings in the unfolding of the Ferguson case. The significance of the case may lead it to being considered as one of the defining cases of the 21st Century.

The five players all held up their hands as they were introduced out onto the field, to show that they, much like 18-year old Michael Brown, who was the victim in the Ferguson, MO fatal-shooting, were unarmed. En route to a 52-0 blowout of the Oakland Raiders, the symbolism of the players putting their hands up was more discussed than the rather lopsided score.

The next day, December 1st, the St. Louis Police Department had demanded that the NFL, or the St. Louis Rams, discipline the five players for their “tasteless, offensive, and inflammatory” gesture. Both the Rams and the NFL did not do anything towards the players, and rightfully so. Players have a right to voice their opinions, so long as they are constructive in doing so. With the 1968 “Black Power” salute, the idea was very much the same.

The International Olympic Committee had deemed that the salute was unfit for the apolitical olympics. That might be somewhat respectable, though hypocritical when noted that the President of the Committee, Avery Brundage, had made no objections to the Nazi salutes in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Brundage was a prominent Nazi-sympathizer, and there was probably personal motivation in his acceptance of the happenings in the 1936 Olympics but not the 1968 Olympics.   

The significance of this protest is very noteworthy. The players had expressed that the Ferguson case is a national affair, something that impacts every single aspect of the American Lifestyle. It also goes to show that players are free to express their own political views in a non-detrimental, constructive manner.

This might end up bringing up the argument that if a player was to do that while wearing a uniform while wearing a uniform, in this case the uniform of the St. Louis Rams, are representing the views of the Rams. The players were representing themselves individually, and have a certain right to. Teams will dress players in camo uniforms to show support for the military, but what if the player doesn’t support the armed forces? What if the player has some sort of issue, and yet is forced to dress anyway? It’s only fair that if a team can force a player to represent its views, then a player, to a certain extent, can use the team to get their views across. The “hands
up” protest would have never been recognized had it not been for CBS’s cameras broadcasting the game to millions, which was being put up on the air because millions wanted to see the Rams play.

Sports contests should not be entirely apolitical, nor should they ever be. It’s true that football is a game to see which team can run, jump, kick, and throw better, but due to the swelling numbers of supporters that sports teams get every year, it’s hard to leave issues out of it, especially as people become more and more emotionally invested into athletics.