BEREA: When Andrew Hawkins stood by a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and Josh McCown sat across from politicians he’s accustomed to seeing on CNN, the importance of their trip to Capitol Hill sunk in for the Browns players.
Nothing they could possibly do on a football field can compare.
“Walking in those historic hallways and realizing all the history you’ve learned about and you’re literally in the same space as them, it’s a surreal moment,” Hawkins said Wednesday.
Hawkins and McCown were among five NFL players who met with members of Congress on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways to improve relationships between law enforcement and black communities. They said they believe the meetings about police brutality and race issues were productive and encouraging.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Anquan Boldin spearheaded the trip. His cousin, Corey Jones, was shot and killed by a police officer last year while waiting for roadside assistance on a South Florida highway. Boldin invited players and was joined by Lions safety Glover Quin, Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, Hawkins, a wide receiver, and McCown, a quarterback who became a friend of Boldin when they were members of the Arizona Cardinals.
Browns coach Hue Jackson said he’s “very proud” two of his players went on the trip, which had been planned several weeks ago. He excused them from Monday’s practice so they could fly to the nation’s capital. Meetings with lawmakers filled their schedules Tuesday.
“What a tremendous opportunity for them to have a voice in some serious issues that are going on and for them to learn different ways that we are trying to do things better,” Jackson said. “They will carry that message into our locker room with our younger players.”
Jackson said he believes NFL players have a responsibility to use their voices, and Hawkins and McCown acknowledged they feel obligated to capitalize on their clout.
“How can we leverage those things for good to help be a part of solutions to move us forward?” McCown said. “Because nobody wants to see that happen, nobody wants to lose loved ones. I can’t imagine what that’s like for some of these people that have gone through this.”
“At the same time from a law enforcement perspective, just the jobs that they have to go out and do every night and the way that they go about it, just how much respect we have for them. You see both sides and you go, ‘Man, what can I do to help bridge the gaps in those relationships to make it better for everybody?’ ”
The goal of Tuesday’s meetings was to open the lines of communication.
“For us, it was about learning about the work that’s already being done and seeing what we could do to help,” said McCown, the only white player among the five who made the trip. “I certainly think for them, understanding we were coming there not with any agenda but to listen and offer our influence and the things we could do to help move it along.”
The players met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Florida Democrat, Rep. Daniel Webster, a Florida Republican, and Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat. They went to the White House for a meeting with the Office of Public Engagement.
“Republican and Democrat, we met with everybody, and they met with us,” Hawkins said. “It was open arms and it was great dialogue, and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to be able to meet with them and hopefully create some change.”
ESPN tagged along to chronicle the day, and the members of Congress tweeted photos of themselves with the players.
“The platform we are given is a special one,” Hawkins said, “and I feel like a lot of guys feel that way and they’re trying to use it to the best of our ability.”
Hawkins said he’s especially passionate about race issues because he’s concerned about the future of his three children.
“That’s the American dream, to leave things better for your children than what you have,” Hawkins said, “and that’s the responsibility I have as a father.”
Hawkins explained his grandfather, Burrell Haselrig Sr., engaged in similar fights as a prominent Republican. Haselrig spoke at two Republican National Conventions, and Hawkins has photographs hanging in his house of his grandfather with former presidents.
“Seeing that let me know that it doesn’t matter where I’m from or how minuscule people think I am to the equation, that I have the power to make a difference even a little bit or encourage somebody else who might have more of a power to make a difference,” Hawkins said.
The players said the next step is to continue the conversation.
Hawkins mentioned a return to Washington, D.C., is in the cards for the group after the season. He also pointed out the athletes must work on the issue at the local level, which he has done by talking to Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams.
“Many times you get caught up thinking you’re either on this side or that side and I’m right and you’re wrong,” Hawkins said.
“That’s not productive. That’s not progressive and not the reality. So if everybody loving the game of football can bring people together or make a Republican and Democrat sit down and have a conversation or have police and communities sit down and do an event, then that’s our responsibility, and that’s what we need to do.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.