Tre Boston and his Carolina Panthers teammates exercised their right to protest peacefully last week. It was a far cry from where he and his fellow Panthers found themselves in 2016.
Boston was in Charlotte when players across the league began peacefully protesting during the national anthem, felt internal resistance and ultimately didn't see the result they wanted to achieve. Boston left Charlotte after that season, spending a year with the Chargers and another season with the Cardinals before returning to the Panthers in 2019. Boston came back to Carolina in part because he said he saw a changed franchise under new ownership.
That change was reflected in the team's decision to protest last week with what Boston said was full support from owner David Tepper.
"This is, truthfully, this is a 180 from what we used to be and that's what they told me," Boston said during an appearance on the RapSheet + Friends podcast. "When I came in, they said the same thing. When I was thinking about coming back, I wanted to know, did I have [stability] in my job and being able to be who I am as a man, as a black man, as a very intelligent University of North Carolina alum and they assured me that they believed in everything I believed in. I was allowed to be myself and I was allowed to stand up for things that were right.
"I appreciate that. That's why guys are out there to this day. I think what (ESPN's) Maria Taylor said earlier was big. Guys are able to talk without repercussions. People now see this is big. If you're not anti-racism, like why aren't you? It's not enough to be just not racist. Let's weed out the few bad apples that we claim are just a few. Let's have these conversations. That's what I love, between '16 and now, we're able to have these conversations. We're able to do with people who have been in our shoes.
"If you know who Tepper is, he got it out of the mud just like we did. He understands how he got his. And he's willing to help. That's all it's about, just listening, hearing, being able to have empathy, like human beings that we are. It doesn't take you to be on this wing or that wing. It's all the same bird. We're humans. Between '16 and '20 now, people are more receptive. We're saying that we have to listen to have that ownership to get this country where we want it to be."
Boston hopes that with the backing of ownership, the conversation has entered a new era filled with potential for significant progress. Instead of quelling discourse, there seems to be a new avenue for it to thrive and produce positive change.
Now, it's about having those conversations, both in the streets and in places of power: with bodies of government, levels of leadership and especially in NFL locker rooms. The best way players can use their massive platform is by first discussing these issues internally before presenting their take on a united front for the world to see.
"I think it works better when everybody's able to talk," Boston said. "When everybody's face to face, when they're able to truly express how they feel. And I've been in these meetings where we didn't feel that way. We didn't feel like we could say everything we need to say. And we didn't feel like people would listen to everything we need to say.
"And I think now is an important time because now we're seeing that even our closest friends and allies sometimes don't understand the full reason why they're helping us. They might not understand the full spectrum of what is going on. And they might be our allies, they might not be racists. But we need everybody on the same page. And that comes with, you know in our league, I think that's having these tough conversations inside those meeting rooms.
"Right now, we're at a time where identifying who's who, it's not hard right now. We're weeding them out. Right now, it's -- we've pretty much gotten to a point where you're either with us or you're against us. And it's that easy."
No significant change comes easily, and usually doesn't come without resistance. But as the tides appear to be shifting on this topic, players themselves feel more empowered than ever to speak and act in a collective effort to shape a better future for all in the United States. As Boston said, "I never thought I'd have to be in that moment protesting the same things my grandparents protested."
With efforts like the ones he, his teammates and members of the Panthers organization are making, perhaps his own grandchildren won't have to follow in his footsteps taken while marching for a better America.
