True patriotism is loving your country and countrymen enough to want to make it better.Collection: Patriotism
Sports is something that transcends generations, transcends backgrounds, cultures, races. And so the power of sports is real.Collection: Sports
If you know anything about the issues in our country, you know we have a lot of deep-rooted anger and anxieties that spark a lot of passion. When you talk about our national anthem or the flag or race relations or the criminal justice system, it brings up a lot of those fears and insecurities.Collection: Anger
I want to thank the fans across the country who have supported me in this effort to fight for equality and justice. I want to thank those that have dedicated their lives to this fight, as I know that it is not easy. And I want to challenge those who stay silent to be courageous and use your platforms to become part of the solution. God Bless.Collection: Equality
Trump started talking about bringing back stop-and-frisk, which was ruled unconstitutional. And as a black man, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. That you will basically pass laws to say that I can be profiled, and it is legal.Collection: Legal
You can't expect to go about change - especially change of this nature, when you talk about racial equality and justice - you can't expect to go about or engage in that without resistance, and so you're going to have some people who aren't on board.Collection: Equality
On or off the field, practice and teamwork are the key to success.Collection: Success
I like living in the city. I really don't like the suburbs.
To be in a situation where you have another year on your deal and the team still wants to extend that - they see your value, they want you in the building, and they want to build around you - that speaks volumes. That's very, very important to a player like me.
Playing the nickel is something I'm very, very comfortable doing and I enjoy doing, but also, I know what me playing the safety position means to the entire defense.
Guys move around in free agency.
It's important for students to learn to make smart money management decisions before heading off to college or the entering the workforce.
Government and companies working together to support parents, teachers, and mentors within the community can give kids a strong background in financial literacy.
For me, I'm a bit of a control freak.
Once you look up, and it's Week 14 or 15, and it's crunch time, you can't all of a sudden turn on a switch and say, 'Hey guys, we have to step up and be brothers, be family.' That's stuff that is developed in the offseason, training camp, or throughout the season.
I've never been incarcerated; I don't deal with these things on a day-to-day basis in my own personal life, but I have family members that do. I have friends that do. I have people in the city that I live in, Philadelphia, that are dealing with this on a daily basis.
I'm not a labels type of guy, so every time my coach tries to call me a safety, I correct him and tell him I'm a hybrid.
My wife has an all-natural skin and hair product company. I use all of her products for my beard. She has a beard oil and a beard wash. So that is what I use.
I am not really that big into fashion, where I am looking at trends or what everyone else is doing.
I will shop at Asos or Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters is probably where I buy most of my stuff from. I mix and match from different places.
I actually enjoy talking about some things other than football.
There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
It's actually been pretty liberating for me to fully get behind a cause that I feel is worthy and to stand on it and to follow where my heart takes me.
As the blowback against those who stand up for what is right thickens, I feel it is necessary to push forward with a relentless determination.
We've got to understand what wins and what loses for us. What's our formula? For us, it might not be flashy. It might be boring football, but it works for us.
I've always been a little 'preppy street.' That's how I would describe it. I'm not all the way into street wear, but I am not all the way into a suit and tie either, so I try to combine that look.
I want to see us push for economical and educational advancement in communities of color and low-income communities, and I want to see our relationships between our communities and our law enforcement be advanced.
The people who have been unjustly disenfranchised by our criminal justice system and the people who daily fight for them always have, and always will be, the inspiration and focus of my efforts.
Everyone loses when voices get stifled.
When I look at our communities, our country, our justice system, those are things I want to change and I'm committed to changing, and that's going to take sacrifice. Laying the foundation is the hardest part and requires a lot of sacrifice and time.
We're kind of coached to stay away from touchy subjects just because of the arena that we're in.
Communities of color have also had to watch video after video of unarmed black men and women being handled without regard for their lives or well-being. As a black man, I see these images, and I see myself; I wonder whether this will happen to me or one of my loved ones.
We are demanding police transparency and accountability so we can build trust and work together to make our communities safer.
We are fighting to pass clean-slate legislation in Pennsylvania to seal nonviolent misdemeanor records automatically after 10 years. We must provide opportunities for employment, housing, education, loans, and voting. We should not disenfranchise a third of the population.
Oftentimes, even myself as I've come through my entire career from high school all the way up here, everything has been football, football, football. And then you realize that life is much bigger than this game, especially when you start thinking about life after football and what you want to leave behind.
I didn't realize that the platform could be this big until Colin Kaepernick first took a knee. When he did that, that was kind of an 'aha' moment for me.
I'd already been doing work in the community... But when it comes to how to actually amplify your voice, when I saw what Colin Kaepernick did and the amount of coverage and conversation around it, that's when I truly realized how much influence we have as athletes.
I'm about creating positive change in the communities that I come from.
I want to see changes in our criminal justice system.
I get hate mail. I get bad mail. People say they will boycott you or the team.
My goal is to use football as a platform to speak out on things that need addressing.
I'm learning the process of changing things. I'm not really sure where this is going to take me. But I know what I want before my career is over: I want people to remember me as someone other than a guy who just tackled people.
I want to be remembered as someone that used football to raise awareness.
I think when you have a group of guys that care about the community, the city, care about each other, it just makes for a unique locker room.
Our biggest thing is, any player who's protesting will tell you that the only reason we use the anthem is because it's a platform like no other. We use it to draw attention to other issues. We've heard from many people, 'Use a different venue. Use a different platform.' Quite frankly, this is the most effective one.
For Obama, there was just a lot of enthusiasm in the minority communities to get out and vote. Everybody felt like their vote mattered.
The crime bill basically incentivized the prison system. There were quotas, mandatory minimums. You have to serve 85 percent of your time, so it is guaranteeing that bodies will always be locked up. And that went mostly towards minority communities and poor communities, where crime is more rampant.
I could easily vote for things that benefit me taxwise, but the rest of my family is not in this tax bracket. So when I vote, I try to keep in mind my family and my community and what I think is best for the nation as a whole.
I remember my dad always complaining about getting pulled over. I remember the differences in school systems. I remember seeing police officers, not knowing their names, and knowing that they were there not to protect us, not to serve us, but to watch us.
Fashion, to me, is trends - it's what other people are wearing; it's what's hot this season. I'm not as interested in that. Style, to me, is personal. Style is what each individual has.