Kenny Stills – August 19, 2019
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Monday, August 19, 2019
WR Kenny Stills
(On leadership) – “…A quote that I have. It says, ‘leadership is about empathy. Having the ability to connect with people for the purpose of empowering and inspiring their lives.’ And I feel like – I like that. I like that. That’s from Oprah. It’s crazy you asked me about that; but yeah, it’s really trying to do the right thing – trying to inspire others.”
(What is about just your mentality – your chemical makeup – that makes you want to be that leader here and beyond because you do a lot of things outside the locker room as well?) – “Honestly, I don’t even think about it from that perspective. I’ve said it before: I pray at night, and I ask God to use me for whatever his purpose is, and this year preparing for this season, I was so focused on ball and not anything else outside of that, and then things come up and things happen, and I feel it on my heart to say something about it. I think just – sometimes, things work out that way.”
(You talked about on your Instagram post – you said, ‘we all could work together social justice without disparaging one another.’) – “Yeah.”
(I’m sure you’re referring to the Jay-Z situation – Jay-Z vs. Colin Kaepernick – can you expound on that thought?) – “I think that thought was directed just at everyone. I’ve seen a lot of people just kind of going after each other on social media, and I don’t feel like that gets us anywhere. If you say, ‘F this guy’ or ‘F that person,’ Okay, cool. Now what? How is that helping this cause? How is this helping this situation? And then, directly, I was speaking to Shawn Carter and the NFL. I felt like he really discredited Colin and myself and the work that’s being done in our communities. I think he could’ve handled the whole situation differently. If he were to say, ‘I see the work that Colin and these guys have been doing, and I want to partner up with the league to further that work,’ it would have been totally different than some of the ways that he answered some of these questions. So yeah, I just felt like I needed to let people know that speaking to each other the way that we have been, it’s not helping us get to any solution. We’re not solving anything, and we’ve got to do a better job.”
(So it’s not necessarily about the fact that he didn’t speak to Colin Kaepernick or yourself before joining that partnership; it was about the fact that his point-of-view: ‘what next after kneeling?’) – “Well, I mean I could go on a list of things that I felt like could’ve been done or handled in a better fashion, and I don’t really don’t want to get into that; but for the most part, what I’m trying to say to people is let’s work towards solutions and let’s wait and see what goes down from this deal. You can’t really tell right now. It doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t think that it was handled the right way, but you never know.”
(What about it doesn’t sit right with you?) – “That’s exactly what I was saying: I really don’t want to get into it. But yeah, I mean I think that he could’ve reached out to Colin (Kaepernick). He could’ve reached out to me. Some of the ways that he answered his questions. He’s talking about, ‘we’re moving past kneeling,’ like he ever protested. He’s not an NFL player. He’s never been on a knee. Just choosing to speak for the people like he had spoken to the people. And I think sometimes, I notice that – I wonder how many common people that he knows or that he’s spoken to. I wonder if he’s read my Facebook comments or my Instagram comments or some of the things that people say to me. To be able to speak on and say that we’re moving past something, it didn’t seem very informed.”
(Do you feel like that that even more divides people instead of talking about the subject?) – “Which part?”
(Like if you take two sides like say, Jay-Z’s side and what you guys have been doing, do you think people want that? People want that to divide it?) – “I mean, it seems like right now, that’s what’s fueling everything is division. So I don’t know; but I wish it was handled a better way.”
(Do you feel like it was a little cynical by the NFL partnering with Jay-Z? Do you feel like it was coming from a good place or do you think that’s PR?) – “I think it’s hard to say, but they’ve done a good job of shifting the problem onto Roc Nation and Shawn Carter’s shoulders instead of themselves.”
(Do you think people still view this as a patriotism issue, or do they view it as a social justice issue? I know you know from the comments that you get.) – “I think people are – both. People think that it’s a patriotism issue, and people think that’s a social justice issue, and people think that we don’t have an issue in our country. Go through and read the comments, you know what I’m saying? Read – there’s like bots, and then there’s people that are actually expressing themselves, and read those comments and see what people are saying. There’s a lot of confusion still out there. There’s a lot of people that comment on my page and have never looked at any of the work that I’ve done or any of the work that Colin’s done. Do some research before you’re just out here like, trying to discredit people and put people down. If you want to have a constructive conversation, do a little research, and then let’s talk about something. Leave your feelings out of it, leave your emotions of it, and come with some factual things and speak civilized. If you can’t agree on something, then agree to disagree and then go your way.”
(What do you think of what Carolina Panthers S Eric Reid said?) – “Exactly what?”
(‘Despicable’ I think is the word he used?) – “What was the context?”
(About Jay-Z becoming – or the reports that Jay-Z is going to become part-owner of an NFL team and joining the partnership with the NFL?) – “Yeah, I mean, that’s what Eric (Reid) said. I don’t…”
(I’m not asking you to speak for Eric Reid, I was just…) – “What do I think about his comments about it? I mean, I understand their frustration. I understand his frustration. Like I said, a lot of what I’m trying to do is bring people together, so I’m not going to personally go that route; but I understand when people do go that route. Like I said, I’m looking for solutions, and I’m going to try and give this man the benefit of the doubt for now, but it doesn’t sit right with me. It’s not something that I agree with. It’s not something that I respect.”
(What would you say to Jay-Z if you had the opportunity to talk to him?) – “Honestly, I need some time to think about that. I haven’t had that much time. We’ve been playing and preparing for this season. It’s really important for me to not be a distraction for this team, but also to do the things that I want to do outside of football. So (I’m) really just focusing on this, but that’s something I can think about.”
(Some people would say, ‘don’t let it become a distraction.’ In your mind and your teammates’, this hasn’t been a distraction here, has it?) – “No. As long as I continue to handle my business on the field, everything’s fine. I think I’ve done a good job of that the past couple years.”
(Do you think you’d like to talk to Jay-Z at some point?) – “I don’t see why not.”
