William Wachtel & Martin Luther King III – June 15, 2017
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Thursday, June 15, 2017
William Wachtel & Martin Luther King III
William Wachtel:
(Opening Statement) – “Hi, there. Martin King and I are the co-chairmen of the Drum Major Institute that was founded in 1961 by our dads. We are truly proud to stand with the Dolphins as they help RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality) and (Owner) Steve Ross kick off a unique voter registration drive. The Dolphins are well on their way to being the first professional ball team in American history to have a roster of fully registered voters, and this is just the beginning.”
Martin Luther King III:
(Opening Statement) – “Good afternoon. We’re certainly really honored to be here with this organization, as it takes a very unique step. As you perhaps have heard or are aware, my father and his team, along with John Lewis and others led the campaign to garner the right to vote in 1965. So for the Miami Dolphins to embrace this concept of being the first team to have all of its players registered … Of course the hope is that translates to encouraging more people across our nation to get engaged and to vote because a vote-less people, as dad said, is a powerless people. One of the most important steps that we can take is that short step to the ballot box.”
William Wachtel:
(How did you guys get hooked up with the Dolphins?) – “(Owner) Steve Ross has been a dear friend for 30 years. He’s clearly an owner who is more invested in the well-being of the players, not just on the field but off the field. And as part of the civic engagement, he asked us if we would work with the Dolphins in this initiative. As you know, he runs an organization called RISE. He’s got every major league sport involved and hopefully what happened here today will be an inspiration for the entire RISE organization and, if in fact, the teams and their players all register by national registration day, which is September 26th of this year, then we will rise up and all be very proud of the fact that the ballplayers, who really are at the end of the day role models, will do something special. This is, after all, the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson stepping out onto the field of America’s dream. To pay homage to the dream of Dr. (Martin Luther) King, what could be better for all players to stand up and say ‘We vote; we count.’”
(What percentage of the roster was registered before you began your campaign?) – “What we know today is that today we’re probably close to about 90 percent. That’s just because we haven’t been able to catch a few people. But every single person, the ones who were already registered and the ones who were registering today for the first time, were truly pleased to participate in something which, as part of civic engagement, really is, as (Head) Coach (Adam Gase) said earlier, a great lesson for the kids watching from the sideline.”
(So it’s 90 percent now registered?) – “My guess is we are very close to 90 percent but that’s simply because we literally were standing in the hall with guys signing things as we came in and talked to you guys.”
(The deadline to be 100 percent is September, is that correct?) – “Well, interestingly enough, it’s a well-kept secret; but there is something known as National Voter Registration Day. It’s something sponsored by the secretaries of state throughout the country, and they have that date set. Our goal is starting with the Dolphins and then rolling through the NFL and every major team and for that matter, every sport, because they are all part of the RISE movement, to hopefully have them all registered. That will send a powerful signal to young people that if you care, you have to vote. The first thing you need to do to vote is to register.”
(And if they weren’t registered, you guys gave them a form? Or you gave them a link to go online? How did that work?) – “They literally stood there. We had the forms and they signed it. Whether the team has pictures that they want to share, but it was special. It was neat.”
(How many players would you say weren’t registered that are registered now?) – “It’s hard to say because you’ve got to remember that as people move into the state, registration changes; but what we’re happy to say is that today we think we’re close to having 90 percent that have all registered. And look, we included the rookies and the people that were trying out for the team. So the good news is …”
(How many were not registered before that are registered now?) – “I can’t say that for sure. We did not … we asked if they were registered and they said … Some of them said yes, a lot of them said no; but a lot of them, because they’re moving into the state, said ‘Well look, I’m going to be here so I ought to register here.’”
(Is there an effort through the organization to reach out to the rest of the league or is it just strictly focused on the Dolphins?) – “Well you know (Owner) Steve (Ross) started RISE, which has as its members, every major league sport – from NHL to MLB to NASCAR – and this is a RISE initiative. We’re here as members of the Drum Major Institute, but we’re really here to salute RISE and to salute the Dolphins for kicking this off. Do we hope it becomes viral? Absolutely. Should it become viral? Let’s face it. What team owner, what league wouldn’t say ‘Geez, our players are role models to young people, what could be better than for them to say we vote, we count?’ So fingers crossed. You never know. I mean my guess is … It’s not my place to ask you questions but I suspect very few people have ever heard of a National Voter Registration Day, something which President Obama declared by proclamation to be a day that would be remembered in every year to come.”
(So will the players possibly be involved in say PSAs or anything of that nature?) – “Some of these players were like ‘How can I help? What can I do?’ And it’s not for us to decide, but certainly I know that (Owner) Steve (Ross) really believes, as the coach (Head Coach Adam Gase) was speaking earlier, about the idea of the work that (Director of Player Engagement) Kaleb Thornhill is doing to bring players, not just onto the field, but into the community. So it’s up to them, but fingers crossed, absolutely. And when they go back to their high schools and the kids say ‘What can we do to be better in sports?’ They say ‘The first thing you can do is register because you can’t be a good member of a team if you’re not a part of the American team.’”
(What’s the divide on the team between Democrats and Republicans?) – “(laughter) All I know is that they’re all believers in one thing and that is winning the Super Bowl. (laughter) Both for the team, for (Owner) Steve Ross and democracy.”
Martin Luther King III:
“And for themselves. (laughter)”
