Athlete Activism Quotes

Colin Kaepernick is one of the leaders in the movement for black lives. His role as an athlete and activist is not only motivating but inspiring.

The days of a tennis champion as a gender rights leader are over.

I'd just like to see athletes awake. And aware. There's so much going on and so much to know... We stay in our little boxes and don't think much about the outside world.

It's really cool to be not just winning and fighting for things on the field, but fighting for things off the field and doing so in a way through sport I think is really powerful.

I don't think it's up to black athletes to get involved in political or racial issues.

I saw a survey and it is that NFL fans are fed up with listening to players talk about politics.

I've been a bit surprised, and encouraged, by the NBA's support for athletes that speak out. Compared to the NFL, it's night and day.

If you’re an athlete and you tend to be political, you tend to alienate half the public.

I feel like the NBA, WNBA, tennis and basketball have really been at the forefront of social justice and pushing for change from the athlete platform.

Why, when an athlete says something, why is it downplayed or considered not OK? I've always challenged that notion.

… [now football] players want to be politicians and use their fame to lecture other Americans, the parsons of the press corps want to make them moral spokesmen…

The Olympics create a space for the complete destruction of human rights in Russia.

He (Jackie Robinson) was the greatest competitor I've ever seen. I've seen him beat a team with his bat, his ball, his glove, his feet and, in a game in Chicago one time, with his mouth.

So many athletes are afraid to use their platform to do the right thing and speak what they feel, and that's very depressing. Sure, they are afraid of insulting people and losing money because of it, and everyone wants to make the maximum amount of money in their lifetime. But at the expense of who you are? I don't know. That just wasn't in my DNA.

John Carlos provided the world with one of the most iconic images of the 1960s with his Black Power salute after a medal-winning performance at the 1968 summer games.

Who's to say because you're just a basketball player, or you are a basketball player, who's to say you can't chime in on other subjects or other important topics?

Barack Obama wanted to applaud [Colin] Kaepernick. But he knew he couldn't do it. We haven't yet gotten to the point where the president can dishonor the country. A quarterback for the 49ers can, but we can't have the president do it yet.

Colin Kaepernick had a... maybe he had an epiphany. Maybe he had a realization that 'I have a higher calling the playing quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.'

Let's face it: if you're an elite basketball player and you choose to be socially and politically active, it could harm your brand.

Smith and Carlos aside, I object to using the Olympic awards stand to make a political statement.

You're starting to see more and more athletes recognizing their reach and how much leverage and power that they have in their celebrity and in their platform. And more and more guys are trying to use that leverage to better their communities, to better this country and are speaking out on injustice.

Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.

Are we that self-centered to believe no one in the world is aware of racism right now? That, as athletes, we solve the real issues by using our platforms to speak? We don't need to say more. We need to find a way to achieve more. Protesting during an anthem, wearing T-shirts is great, but we need to see real actions being put in to the works.

Like others before me, I have a great opportunity as an NFL player to make a difference in the lives of others.

Amazingly, I think that a lot of times athletes are - are kind of in a position where other think they shouldn't weigh in on certain social topics.