Over the course of eight professional seasons in Seattle, Baldwin etched his place in the franchise’s record books while serving as a staunch advocate for social advancement. A vocal leader on-and-off the field, the Stanford graduate used his platform to advocate for change throughout his career and continues to do so. Baldwin revealed in 2016 that he’d received death threats for calling for police reform. Baldwin spoke in support of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who initiated conversations about social, racial and economic injustices while kneeling pre-game during the National Anthem in 2016.
“The reason you’re asking me this question [about Kaepernick and the state of law enforcement in the United States] is because Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem, and regardless of what people want to say about it disrespecting the military or the country or whatever it may be, he shed light on an issue that needed to be revealed,” Baldwin said. “So now we’re having this conversation. I’m fortunate enough and glad that he did that. He took the leadership role, stepped up, took the hits, and now we’re able to move forward with this conversation.”
On the second episode of Between the Lines, Baldwin discussed speaking up when other Black players may have been in fear of losing their jobs.
“I couldn’t sit around and not do anything about what was going on in our country,” said Baldwin. “Or at least address it from a perspective or an angle that I thought that I could have some impact in.”
Baldwin discussed the change in the Seahawks locker room after Kaepernick took a knee.
“Politics usually didn’t have a place in the locker room,” said Baldwin. “We didn’t talk much about what was going on in the political landscape. We’d talk about different things, different subjects; but it wasn’t to the hype that it was when Kaepernick took a knee. And the discussions on what was going on around our country was so prevalent, you couldn’t get away from it.”
Baldwin jumped head-first into communicating with local law enforcement to gain a greater understanding of each other, while joining forces with Seahawks Legends Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril to create the non-profit Champions of Change. But with a few years passing since Baldwin hung up his cleats and made the shift to other ventures to give back to the youth, he’s asking the NFL to match the efforts of players like himself to change the communities where they came from.
“If you’re going to…
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