Getty Taylor Decker during a Lions game.
Taylor Decker has been listening like his Detroit Lions‘ teammates in recent months, but when he has chosen to speak, his words have been very pointed and powerful.
This week, as the Lions got back to work after sitting out practice this past Tuesday, Decker’s words have taken on even greater significance. Decker spoke during the team’s protest, and had one of the most insightful commentaries on the matter.
Yesterday, I asked Taylor Decker (who is white) why it was important for him to get up and speak at the Lions’ facility, after Duron Harmon and Trey Flowers. Was just thinking back on what he said:
Decker has admitted this offseason to being touched by the stories of his teammates in meetings and he echoed that sentiment again. As he said, he cannot begin to imagine what it’s like to live with such fears and frustrations in everyday life.
That type of sentiment is something which could go a long way in America at this point in time, and Decker’s words are to be taken seriously.
Trey Flowers Encourages Activism After Lions Protest
So what’s next? Flowers joined NFL Network and host Andrew Siciliano following an unprecedented day in Allen Park, and said the next steps involve more education as well as activism on several fronts from the public. The best part? Folks don’t have to be professional athletes with a huge platform to get involved and make a change.
My conversation today with @III_Flowers after the @Lions called off practice.
@nflnetwork
Flowers explained his ideal next steps:
“Just continue to educate. Educate the people who don’t know around the world to shine light to these type of incidents. Another step is going to the government. Having conversations with council, congress, people that put police officers in place to protect cities. Obviously vote, we’ve got a big election year coming up. That’s another thing us as citizens should want to do. Whatever you choose to do, whether it’s vote, sit down and have a conversation with a neighbor, have a conversation with council, government. All of that is just as important as voting. It’s all important as a movement.”
Obviously, more of those conversations are needed in the weeks, months and years ahead as events like the one which nearly claimed the life of Jacob Blake have become all too common in America.
Taylor Decker Rated a Top NFL Lineman
Recently, Pro Football Focus and writer Anthony Treash helped to shed some additional light on the matter. The site recently ranked all of the offensive tackles in the league and Decker placed on the list at No. 23
Here’s what Treash wrote:
“Decker has consistently been an above-average player throughout his four-year NFL career. He’s earned an above-average grade on true pass sets and has avoided negatively graded run blocks at an above-average rate, too — both of these are stable metrics for offensive tackles. Decker closed out the 2019 NFL season from Week 8 on as the league’s sixth-highest-graded tackle and will look to continue that in 2020.”
Whether or not the Lions bring back Decker via re-signing before his deal is up is anybody’s guess at this point in time, and those decisions seem to remain fluid in terms of actual negotiations with Bob Quinn and the team.
Obviously, Decker is a player who has graded positively at some points and negatively in others, but PFF seems to think that he should be valued a bit more by this list and some of their metrics which grade him in a more positive light.
How valued he is moving forward for the Lions remains to be seen, but this shows many are expecting a solid 2020 season from Decker. Regardless of the play on the field, it’s been excellent to see him turn into a team leader.