Padecky: Saying thanks for athletes who speak out

Thanksgiving is just two days away and this column will not give thanks to the Atlanta Braves for winning the World Series, for Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl or for our local high school teams winning on the court and the field.

This column will not take the usual perfunctory path of focusing on everything that went right since last Drumstick Day. Rather, thank you Steph Curry and Carl Nassib and Dak Prescott and Simone Biles and Karen Stanley for showing us how we can and should do better.

Why we should treat each other better, that’s what they are saying. After all, we have had enough examples on how not to do it.

Athletes are talking and it’s not about the size of their contract or what team they’d like to play for. Unlike any other time in the industry, athletes have been speaking up and out, risking endorsements, careers and the adoration fans have so eagerly bestowed upon them.

A couple years ago the NBA’s LeBron James spoke of racial injustice and Laura Ingraham of Fox News told LeBron, “Shut up and dribble.” LeBron didn’t take her advice, treating her like a yappy parrot. Ingraham, however, was a catalyst. Athletes don’t like to be told what to do by outsiders. So Ingraham deserves a Thanksgiving pat on her microphone. Thank you Laura Ingraham for encouraging athletes to be more than brainless clones of muscle.

Of course, some people would like athletes to have laryngitis. Easier to worship. Easier to justify a $20 beer that lingers like soap. Consider this: What if you were told you couldn’t speak publicly on a controversial topic because you were a locksmith or construction worker? Why should athletes be any different?

The Warriors’ Curry is Exhibit A on how it’s possible to be a self-aware human with a strong voice that doesn’t intrude or diminish the respect and love his basketball skills so eagerly encourage.

It wasn’t that long ago Curry didn’t know Julius Jones from a box of rocks. On death row for 19 years, Jones has been in an Oklahoma prison for a murder he maintains he did not commit. His trial has been reviewed and discussed extensively. Salient questions have arisen.

NBA stars Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Trae Young and Buddy Hield spoke out. NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield authored and sent letters to the Oklahoma governor, seeking clemency.

Curry found out Jones was a basketball fan. On Oct. 26, Curry called Jones. They talked basketball, his case, clemency, the chance for the two men to meet. It was a goose-bump conversation for both men, as the pair admitted. It was difficult to tell who benefited more from the call.

“Coming out of a basketball game,” Curry told the Bay Area News Group after Golden State beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City, “you’re celebrating the win in the locker room and then you’re like, ‘What’s it like in his shoes right now?’ It kinda checks you a little bit. It gives you an appreciation for the blessings in your life and also the work that needs to be done.”

Was it a risky step forward for Curry? Not at all. He’s been a social activist long before Julius Jones. Gauging the reaction he gets on the court, either home or away, Curry’s popularity has never been higher.

Last Thursday, Jones was granted clemency by Oklahoma Gov. Ken Stitt, just hours before Jones was to be executed by lethal injection.

Did Curry’s phone call make a difference? It didn’t hurt. His voice was on a string of other well-known voices. Stature does matter. Celebrity name does matter. Listening matters. Their millions separate them from us. Nothing else should.

Despondency doesn’t. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Raiders defensive end Solomon Thomas both lost siblings to suicide. Both men spoke publicly of their depression, the emotional devastation they experienced and the necessity to talk about, not hide from, depression. We are not alone, they emphasized. Indeed, they are not.

According to the National Center of Health Statistics, 4,436 Californians took their lives in 2019.

When Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to publicly announce he was gay, he knew he wasn’t alone. In February, a Gallup poll estimated 18 million Americans identified themselves as LGBTQ.

Top-ranked tennis player Naomi Osaka withdrew from both the French Open and Wimbledon. Osaka cited mental health issues. Initially mocked — how could someone so successful be so troubled? — Osaka found allies like Michael Phelps and former first lady Michelle Obama to lay bare the truth. Money does not always create emotional insulation.

Olympic superstar gymnast Simone Biles, along with three other American women gymnasts, testified before Congress on how the FBI looked the other way on pursuing sexual assault charges against team physician Larry Nassar. Santa Rosa Junior Colllege’s Karen Stanley, a legendary soccer coach and player, spoke candidly and courageously of her traumatic experiences in this newspaper.

Voices now come near and far, and it’s not just slogans in NFL end zones or the back of player helmets.

Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, has spoken out repeatedly on human rights issues, including playing a key role in the release of a political prisoner.

The National Women’s Soccer League publicly accused a prominent coach of sexual coercion. Players refused to play, canceling a weekend’s worth of games in protest. The coach was fired. A controlling owner and CEO of a league team stepped down.

The protests, the phone calls, the press conferences — the athletes have shown us an inevitable truth. As Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “The only constant (life) is change.” The man said that 2,500 years ago. It remains as true today as it was then.

We have proof.

On the day Carl Nassib announced he was gay, jerseys and shirts with his name on it were the league’s top sellers nationwide, according to Fanatics, the NFL’s sales partner.

So thank you, Carl, for not shutting up and sacking the quarterback. Best move you’ll ever make, and it wasn’t on the football field.

To comment write to bobpadecky@gmail.com.