Malcolm Jenkins, Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith along with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie recently met with Philadelphia community leaders to get a better understanding of the criminal justice system.
Jenkins, Boldin and Smith invited Goodell and Lurie to join them in meeting with community leaders, which included Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross and community advocates for incarceration and bail reform. Eagles defensive end Chris Long and safety Rodney McLeod also accompanied the group.
The meetings, which took place Sept. 12, were spearheaded by Jenkins, Boldin and Smith as part of their efforts to better understand the complexities of the criminal justice system. The meetings were covered in a video posted to the Eagles' official website on Wednesday morning.
"The biggest thing I wanted to accomplish out of today, when I took this journey myself, it was kind of surprising to see," Jenkins said. "You start with police brutality and, say 'OK, that's what we need to change' but after you kind of unveil it, you see it's just the tip of the iceberg. It's actually a pretty complicated and vast issue that has a lot of different wheels and it's almost sometimes overwhelming.
"Players care," Jenkins continued. "We still go back to these communities, we go back to these communities, we grew up in these communities, we have families that still live in these communities. And most of our teams are in these communities. Hopefully what we've done today can be replicated in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit -- I think we can play a major part in changing the narrative from this argumentative, combative narrative to one of solutions, one that is being people together because that's what's unique about this game, is that it brings together people of all walks willingly to the table and to be able to have dialogue."
