A Cause Worth Fighting For

This story originally ran in the Football Issue of GoDuke, the Magazine -- Aug. 2020

The United States and much of the world began 2020 battling a global pandemic. But something in late May changed the national focal point in an instant.

A series of events following the death of George Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis who was a victim of police brutality, sparked protests and marches across the country in support of and drawing attention to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Protestors gathered in the streets, in front of government buildings and beside monuments calling for an end of violent acts against black men and women. In turn, those marches sparked nationwide conversations about what the movement was fighting for. And just like many other communities, the Duke football team found itself having those discussions.

Head coach David Cutcliffe started Duke's internal BLM conversation by releasing a statement on Twitter reflecting on his own life experiences.

Just a few words and thoughts that life experiences have led me to believe. pic.twitter.com/qCgmZvHkc8
— David Cutcliffe (@DavidCutcliffe) May 31, 2020

With the Duke football family dispersed across the country due to covid-19, the players, coaches and staff resorted to holding smaller conversations within the program at the start. Redshirt senior linebacker Brandon Hill took it upon himself to spark some of those side discussions.

"It started with individual conversations," said Hill, who opted out of the 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns. "I had a conversation with my position coach about it. He is a black man (Lanier Goethie) and I feel like I can go to him anytime about what is going on."

These discussions were consistent in the immediate reaction to the movement. Hill and other black players on the team began having conversations with coaches and staff nearly every other day about how the atmosphere can change nationally and in Durham. The discussions not only forced many of the student-athletes, but also the coaches, to reflect.

Co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Ben Albert got an alert on his phone right before bed. Immediately he opened it and watched the video of George Floyd's death in its entirety. He struggled to go to sleep after watching the disturbing clip and thought of the young men that he has coached throughout his career, the thoughts that they were having and what they could be going through.

"The George Floyd situation brought us to a crossroads where we really had to look at ourselves and answer for ourselves, 'Is this really who we are?'" Albert said. "And a lot of people are still dealing with that thought. It is easy to go on with your everyday living when it doesn't impact you or affect you, but the video made everyone look into themselves.

"My biggest message to them (the players) was to continue to maintain dignity and continue to have respect. I tried to get them to understand that unfortunately these things have existed for a long time but there has always been a huge faction in our country that have stood shoulder-to-shoulder trying to change our society for the better."

Those small discussions within the Blue Devil football family turned into a larger conversation with the entire team about the Black Lives Matters movement and the disproportionate mistreatment of black individuals in the community. The large team conversation was an open discussion on Zoom for all players to participate in and share their thoughts.

"It was a very good and open discussion," Albert added. "I don't know how comfortable everybody still is to this day, talking about the issue. But it is something that needs to be discussed. The only way to solve a problem is to expose a problem."

After that team conversation, the players felt as though they should release a statement about their thoughts on the movement. With guidance from Cutcliffe, Hill, who unknowingly became the players' spokesperson, began putting together the team's reflections. He communicated with current and former Duke players as well as the coaching staff and team personnel about the wording, with the primary focus and goal of putting out the beliefs of the team.

Hill presented his statement to the team and after a few tweaks they decided on the proper verbiage that would be beneficial for all parties.

"One thing I am happy about is I think a lot of people did get educated throughout that process," Hill said. "That is the real goal."

The statement was released on behalf of Duke football and was posted on the team's social media accounts on June 16. The statement was also reposted by a handful of current and former players on their individual social media accounts.

???? ?????????? ???????????????? ??#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/DQgdy3jUzo
— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) June 16, 2020

"The most powerful message in that statement that our players drafted on their own, is that it's no longer good enough to say I'm not racist but to stand firm and say I'm anti-racist," Albert continued. "That is the most profound idea to come out of this moment. It is not good enough to say I'm personally not racist but be comfortable with someone that has a racist sentiment. We need to confront someone that may harbor those feelings so that we can improve as a society."

One result of the discussions was continuing to educate all the Duke players on prominent black individuals throughout history. Cutcliffe enlisted Director of Player Development Will Cole to send a message to players and staff every day consisting of a historic moment. Albert believes this exposure will continue to advance the Duke team and develop a sense of appreciation and respect.

The team arrived back in Durham the second week of July. The student-athletes and staff went through their required testing and quarantine before entering their "bubble." While a lot of the national focus shifted back to some sort of normalcy, Duke football hoped that these meaningful conversations would continue.

"We can definitely continue to be better," Hill stated. "Obviously covid-19 is still a prominent issue and priorities have shifted, but we are still trying to work toward doing the right things and having the right conversations to educate people long term.

"The hope is that we continue on the path that we were on. We were making good progress. As far as future steps, we have to get back to where we were before we can look forward."

Players Mentioned

Brandon Hill

Duke information