NPL 2016 – Social Justice, Equality and Individual Leadership
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Delivered by Reverend Timothy Costello AO
CEO, World Vision Australia
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Last year, the Lions had players kneel in Weeks 3 and 4. Owner Martha Ford met with the players and told them she would give her backing — and the organization’s backing financially and otherwise — to causes players decided on if they no longer knelt. The players spent a good portion of the season putting together their platform. At the league meetings in March, team president Rod Wood told reporters that the players chose to work with All-Pro Dad and Golden Tate’s Golden Future Foundation, which works with veterans. Lions players have also had meetings with law enforcement officials. Whether this will continue is unclear, as the coaching staff has changed since last season. At the same league meetings, Wood told the Detroit Free Press that the club gave “a significant amount” of money to the charities but wouldn’t say how much. Individual players have 938 also taken up their own causes, including Ameer Abdullah working on fundraisers to combat Flint’s water crisis. Last December, former Lions Anquan Boldin, DeAndre Levy and Don Carey went on a “Listen and Learn” tour in Detroit to learn about bail and jail sentence reform. During the 2016 season, Glover Quin went to Capitol Hill with Boldin for a series of meetings on social justice reform.