Getty John Harbaugh during Ravens training camp.
The Baltimore Ravens practiced Thursday, but spent the afternoon hashing out what ended up being one of the most powerful statements a sports team has ever made.
Now, early on Friday, it was reported early the Ravens took practice off to continue to the conversation even more. This morning, Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network revealed that the team was pausing their scheduled Friday practice to have a team unifying session about social justice reform.
Following yesterday’s statement demanding the arrest of the officers who shot Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake, the #Ravens have canceled practice this morning to “perform a team unifying session surrounding social justice reform.”
As it seems, though, this might have not been the complete case. The team was apparently simply just having a walkthrough ahead of their practice on Saturday. According to ESPN’s Josina Anderson and her source, the conversations could have varied by position group, but the meeting was not classified as a “unifying session” as the earlier report had held from first thing Friday morning.
Whatever the Ravens were working on Friday morning football and otherwise ahead of the weekend, it’s pretty obvious they let their powerful Thursday evening statement do all the talking.
Ravens Revealed Statement
The Ravens hadn’t said anything on the matter, but that changed when they set the bar with a fantastic statement which included multiple specific calls to action. Thursday morning, the Ravens elected to practice, but in the afternoon, they were hard at work talking and brainstorming their response. By the time it was revealed, it was incredibly powerful.
The result? A comprehensive statement which not only outlined how the team felt about what was going on, but made specific points about what the team is calling on to change nationally.
Statement from the Baltimore Ravens:
Specifically, the Ravens called on the police who shot Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor to be arrested. They also demanded that senator Mitch McConnell bring the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to the senate floor. Additionally, the team said they encouraged folks to vote and get involved in the political process, demanded prison sentences that were fair and equitable and encourage citizens to report any possible violations of the police to the department’s internal affairs unit.
As the Ravens said, these steps will help the world become a better place for everyone’s children and grandchildren. The hope is some of these demands are met with a serious mindset from those in power.
Ravens Players React to Their Statement
In the aftermath of the statement, the Ravens hopped on Twitter and showed major support for the words of the franchise. As Calais Campbell put it, the team wants to see meaningful change and they want it right now.
Mark Ingram said he was very proud to be a Raven.
Robert Griffin III said that he wanted everyone to read the words and start to demand changes be made themselves.
As a whole, the Ravens are unified behind their message and their approach which is great to see. Now that the team will continue the discussion and try to move things forward further and get ready for a big practice on Saturday.
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