This week, Packers linebacker Julius Peppers’ eyes have been on focused preparation for the Detroit Lions, but he does have an eye on his former home city – one that has become torn after unrest due to a deadly police shooting.
Peppers played for eight years with the Carolina Panthers. His former home stadium in downtown Charlotte shadows over the area where riots have happened in recent days following the Keith Scott shooting, where a police officer took Scott’s life.
“It’s one of those issues that is a hot topic right now everywhere, for whatever reason. It’s an important issue,” said Peppers Thursday.
“It’s up to us to find a solution that’s the best solution possible.”
The issue of police shootings involving African-American victims has remained in the news since Ferguson, Missouri two years ago. It has twice come to consciousness locally in Milwaukee, with the deadly Dontre Hamilton shooting that led to peaceful protests, and the deadly Sylville Smith shooting where unrest followed in Sherman Park – on the same August weekend as the Packers’ first preseason game.
In an often-segregated society, Peppers believes that perhaps sports – and the example of the integrated locker room life his Packers have – can offer such a solution.
“This is a great environment where we have guys from all walks of life and all ethnicities, where it doesn’t matter. We come together, and we’re a family in here. We all have one common goal, one focus,” said Peppers.
“On a bigger scale, if we can get to this point as a country, as a world, where we have one goal where we want to help each other, be kind to one another, we can achieve that – the same thing we have in here – outside in all these communities.”
In the close-knit locker room communities of the NFL, disagreements can happen. But Peppers says that he’s never had to take a teammate over to the side and have a discussion over race.
“There’s a lot of sharp guys in here in different areas. Some of these guys went to college and majored in different things where they’re really well versed in some of these things. I haven’t had a single sit-down discussion with anybody. We talk a lot, just general conversation about things that happen and how we feel, but I haven’t really had a sit-down with anybody to talk about (racial issues),” he explained.
“Sometimes there’s a stigma attached to being an athlete, where people stereotype and make assumptions, but when you peel back the layers, look at the man and understand the kind of people play this game, how intelligent some of these guys are, it undresses all of this stuff and you can see clear.”
