Nick Saban and Alabama Players Show Support for Black Lives Matter in New Video

Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide are 100 percent behind the Black Lives Matter movement. On Thursday, the Crimson Tide posted a video that features Saban and his football players delivering a powerful message about race and being united as one. The players featured in the video are Alex Leatherwood, Mac Jones, Emil Ekiyor, Evan Neal, and Patrick Surtain II, just to name a few.

“In this moment in history, we can’t be silent,” the players and Saban said together in the video “We are a team. Black, white brown. Together we are a family. We are brothers. …On the field we are relentless. We are strong. We are conquerors. But we are human beings first. And in this moment in history, we can’t be silent. We must speak up for our brothers and sisters, for our sons and daughters.”

The players and Saban continued: “When we see our families, our neighbors, our classmates subjected to violence, we recognize the fear in their eyes. We believe the solutions to our challenges are within us. We choose to listen. We choose to hear, and understand other’s perspectives. Let’s listen. Let’s unite. Because all lives can’t matter until Black lives matter.”

The video came from a number of conversations the team had with various individuals over the last few weeks, according to AL.com. Condoleezza Rice, Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith were a few of the notable people to speak to the players and told them to use their platform to make a difference. As for Saban, this is not the first time he has spoken out on the Black Lives Matter movement. Shortly after the death of George Floyd, Saban released a statement on the state of the country.

“We’re at an important moment for our country and now is the time for us to choose kindness, tolerance, understanding, empathy, and most importantly … it’s time to love each other,” Saban said in a statement. Every life is precious, and we must understand we have so many more things that unite us than divide us.” Saban ended the statement by saying: “We must come together as a society and treat one another with respect and dignity.”