This was the final question of today's Zoom presser. I give you the full questiona nd response from Mack:
Q: We're in unprecedented times and there's a lot of discussion about how around racism and a lot of the players are speaking out. Sam made a comment on Twitter. Dyami Brown put out a comment on Twitter. I'm wondering how have you had to address these conversations with your team and how might the conversations continue moving forward?
BROWN: “We've always been very direct and very fair with our team, and we've always said there would never be an elephant in the room. So we discuss it. We've talked about it. It's harder to have team discussions in my estimation on Zoom than it is if you're face-to-face. You want to see reactions. You want them to ask you questions.
“So the other day we met with the Leadership Committee and we went through the issues that were on our campus and how the campus is handling them, and I appreciate the way this campus is stepping up and handling them. We told the guys, ‘Talk to us. I'm white. I don't know how you feel if you're black and you need to tell me.’ Our dressing room is not an issue. It's a melting pot. Our dressing room is safe and it's fun. If the United States and the country was running like our dressing room we wouldn't have any of these problems because we're fair, we're consistent and we always try to do what we know is the right thing to do. Nobody ever even talks about race.
“Where I think I can do a better job, and Sally can do a better job, and our staff can do a better job, is asking questions to our black players, ‘What can we do to help? What do you need? What helps you five years from now? What helps your children?’ Because what we're seeing, the injustice we're seeing, is awful and obviously, that's got to change and stop. But what can we do? Is it changing the name of a building? I've never looked at the name of a building when I walk in it.
“I wouldn't have any clue, but if it's a racist person the building was named after or there's racism in his past, and it bothers you walking in that building, you need to tell me because I don't know any of the names of the buildings. Never looked. Never even thought about it, but if it's uncomfortable for you, talk to us and tell us. Or is there something we can do more? Because I've already talked to them about certain personnel things with the department that I would like to get for us that'll be better.
“I've talked to them about I want to do a better job for us. We do a great job of getting our guys jobs when we get out. We can do a better job. I want to have the best program in the country so when our guys get out, they’ve got five interviews set up, they get through pro ball, they’ve got five interviews set up. Those are things we can do to help. I want them to feel comfortable if they're out in the community. I had a friend tell me one time, ‘I'm not letting my son get his driver's license because I'm afraid that if he drives, he'll be pulled over and he'll be stopped and I'm afraid he might get shot.’ And at that time, and that was 15 years ago probably, maybe 10, I thought, ’Come on, man. Don't be that way. He wants to drive. Let him drive.’ And now after the recent things that I've seen, it hit me that I understand now what he was talking about.
“So my job is to listen, respond and react, and try to help be part of the change for the positive and not just worry about what happens in the confines of our team. And that's what I've always done. I've tried to do right, I've tried to speak out, but this change is bigger than a football locker room or a football team. I need to be part of that because I really believe it.”
Q: We're in unprecedented times and there's a lot of discussion about how around racism and a lot of the players are speaking out. Sam made a comment on Twitter. Dyami Brown put out a comment on Twitter. I'm wondering how have you had to address these conversations with your team and how might the conversations continue moving forward?
BROWN: “We've always been very direct and very fair with our team, and we've always said there would never be an elephant in the room. So we discuss it. We've talked about it. It's harder to have team discussions in my estimation on Zoom than it is if you're face-to-face. You want to see reactions. You want them to ask you questions.
“So the other day we met with the Leadership Committee and we went through the issues that were on our campus and how the campus is handling them, and I appreciate the way this campus is stepping up and handling them. We told the guys, ‘Talk to us. I'm white. I don't know how you feel if you're black and you need to tell me.’ Our dressing room is not an issue. It's a melting pot. Our dressing room is safe and it's fun. If the United States and the country was running like our dressing room we wouldn't have any of these problems because we're fair, we're consistent and we always try to do what we know is the right thing to do. Nobody ever even talks about race.
“Where I think I can do a better job, and Sally can do a better job, and our staff can do a better job, is asking questions to our black players, ‘What can we do to help? What do you need? What helps you five years from now? What helps your children?’ Because what we're seeing, the injustice we're seeing, is awful and obviously, that's got to change and stop. But what can we do? Is it changing the name of a building? I've never looked at the name of a building when I walk in it.
“I wouldn't have any clue, but if it's a racist person the building was named after or there's racism in his past, and it bothers you walking in that building, you need to tell me because I don't know any of the names of the buildings. Never looked. Never even thought about it, but if it's uncomfortable for you, talk to us and tell us. Or is there something we can do more? Because I've already talked to them about certain personnel things with the department that I would like to get for us that'll be better.
“I've talked to them about I want to do a better job for us. We do a great job of getting our guys jobs when we get out. We can do a better job. I want to have the best program in the country so when our guys get out, they’ve got five interviews set up, they get through pro ball, they’ve got five interviews set up. Those are things we can do to help. I want them to feel comfortable if they're out in the community. I had a friend tell me one time, ‘I'm not letting my son get his driver's license because I'm afraid that if he drives, he'll be pulled over and he'll be stopped and I'm afraid he might get shot.’ And at that time, and that was 15 years ago probably, maybe 10, I thought, ’Come on, man. Don't be that way. He wants to drive. Let him drive.’ And now after the recent things that I've seen, it hit me that I understand now what he was talking about.
“So my job is to listen, respond and react, and try to help be part of the change for the positive and not just worry about what happens in the confines of our team. And that's what I've always done. I've tried to do right, I've tried to speak out, but this change is bigger than a football locker room or a football team. I need to be part of that because I really believe it.”
