Football. By me, it always invokes internal groaning when mentioned. I honestly couldn’t care less about which sweaty man tackles another equally drenched man and who kicks the ball beyond which imaginary line. To me, it all seems barbaric— but then again, to each their own.

Football. By now, it causes mild discomfort due to the current polarization and politicization of the whole situation with kneeling during the National Anthem. Some say the issue is “stupid”, others say that football players should “stay out of politics”, and others… well, others are kneeling alongside them.

To me, the saddest part of this controversy is that the kneeling took place due to a football player’s wanting to be heard. He protested against a real issue in America and understandably used his fame as a platform to do so. He was protesting police brutality— and we’ve all seen or heard of videos of police using excessive and unreasonable amounts of force, so to say that police brutality isn’t a thing is invalid. Yes, his method is quite controversial, but it got people talking, however not about what he intended. His message was ignored, overlooked, and taken over by the issue of free speech.

I think the topic of free speech is very important and needs to be part of an ongoing conversation, however I wish we were focusing on the bigger, or original, picture right now. We need reform in the police system, we need change in the way we train our officers, and we need to shift away from mass incarceration.

We can’t expect this problem to go away on it’s own, and it is time to address it head on, united, as one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.