Boise State’s Harsin responds after former player criticizes his silence on racial turmoil
In a video posted Saturday on YouTube, former Boise State football player Jason Robinson called on coach Bryan Harsin to speak out against racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
“I’m calling you out to do what’s right. I’m calling you out to step up for people in the building that come to work every day to make this thing possible. All the players, black and white,” Robinson said. “Everybody has been impacted by this stuff, and because everyone has been impacted, it’s on everyone to speak up the way they can.”
On Saturday afternoon, Harsin posted what appeared to be a response in a statement on Twitter.
“Football has provided a platform to have meaningful conversations, and more often than not, those conversations happen within the walls of our facility,” the statement read. “With what is going on right now in our country, it has become clear that the conversations we have as a team need to spread beyond our walls.
“The hate, the discord, the belief that voices are falling on deaf ears — it needs to change. Now. There is no place for it in our program, and there shouldn’t be a place for it in our society. We all need to be better, and it starts with each and every one of us caring for all we encounter, regardless of color, politics or any other differences we may have.”
On Monday, video surfaced of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck while he was on the ground in handcuffs. Floyd was pronounced dead later that night in police custody. On Friday, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Floyd’s death sparked five days of protests in Minneapolis, and other protests have popped up around the country. On Friday, protesters in Atlanta looted the College Football Hall of Fame, and citizens took to the streets in Eugene, Oregon.
In his video, Robinson pointed to the fact that Boise State was one of the first schools in the country to announce it would include coaches in furloughs in response to revenue lost due to the coronavirus. But the leadership of the football team had yet to speak out against racial violence.
“The Boise State football program and the leadership of the Boise State football program is dead silent,” said Robinson, who tagged Harsin and Boise State President Marlene Tromp on Saturday in a tweet containing the video. “You should not be coaching football in America today if you do not have the ability to stand up for your players.”
Robinson was a safety at Boise State from 2007 to 2010. On Saturday, he wrapped up his video by reminiscing about his time as a Bronco but said his culture and family will always come first.
“I love being a Boise State Bronco. I loved playing for you guys. It was one of the most fun experiences of my life,” he said. “But I’m a black man first, and I’ll always be a black man. My sons or kids or whatever I end up having will be black children, and they’ll have to deal with this just like I did. Silence is not the answer, period.”
