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‘They Will Be Seen’ project proves football players are more than athletes
Football and the NFL, in particular, is a sport unlike any other.
Owners make cutthroat decisions for the good of the team, often sacrificing an individual player in the process.
Fans root for their favorite team more than they do a favorite player. In part, because of the giant helmet that players wear. The same helmet that, in a way, seals a player’s identity but always showcase a team’s franchise.
But as the case with all sports, football players are more than just their franchise. They more than an athlete and for the most popular and dangerous sport in the country, they deserve to be treated as such.
UNINTERRUPTED has launched a new campaign titled “They Will Be Seen,” focused on giving football players a platform to be seen for the three-dimensional humans they are through a “symbolic” glass helmet.
With high-profile athletes such as Saquon Barkley and LeBron James on board, this project has the potential to change the way the public sees football players. More importantly, this could increase endorsement opportunities for athletes who get less guaranteed money because they might be one serious injury away from being out of the league for good.
“As players, we’re kind of looked at as warriors or gladiators. And gladiators aren’t people who you remember their name,” former NFL player Andrew Hawkins said in a promotional video for the project.
“The helmet effect for an NFL player is you’re nameless and faceless, and it’s like that by design.”
LeBron James, co-founder of UNINTERRUPTED, in the announcement of the project said, “All these great athletes that play our wonderful sport of football, will be heard, and will be seen.”
UNINTERRUPTED worked with artist Victor Solomon to develop and design a completely clear glass football helmet. The time and precision that went into making this model are insane.
By putting on this helmet, NFL players like Barkley, Alex Mattison, Hakeem Butler, and many more are demanding they be seen for what they do off the field just as much as for what they do on it.
Each player involved also filled out a draft card, but instead of physical attributes like height and weight, the cards outline who they are as humans.
“I am a father. I am a leader. I am here to make an impact. I am Saquon.”
To be boggled down to just one among 53 is a sad reality for NFL players on a roster. Just across the way, they see NBA players being marketed their worth, and MLB stars raking in hundreds of millions in guaranteed money.
Simply put, UNINTERRUPTED’s glass helmet approach is a way to get NFL players the recognition, money, and respect they deserve.
“I think what the NFL could gain is much more connectivity to humans because it’s humans who are consuming their game and their sport,” UNINTERRUPTED CEO Maverick Carter stated.
There has rightly been a lot of controversy and criticism surrounding the NFL in recent years. Colin Kaepernick was blackballed and is still without a job. No real action has been taken by the NFL to use its ginormous platform to try and advocate for change with social injustice and systematic oppression against minorities.
“They Will Be Seen” is a new and revolutionary approach to giving the athletes of the biggest sport (and TV show) in the world a bigger voice.
Only through attention and intelligent discourse will this country find the correct path that needs to be taken.