I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Two years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, created the Offensive Lineman of the Year award. This momentous award came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of offensive linemen who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But two years later, the OL still is not free. Two years later, the life of the OL is still sadly crippled by the lack of recognition and the chains of discrimination. Two years later, the OL lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Two years later, the OL is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our league wrote the magnificent words of the rulebook, they were signing a promissory note to which every player was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, offensive line-men as well as those in skill positions and defence, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her offensive linemen are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the offensive linemen people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of a pro bowl appearance.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of not being in the pro bowl to the sunlit path of the pro bowl. Now is the time to lift our league from the quicksands of positional injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the home office to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the offensive linemens legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. S21 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Offensive linemen needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the league returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in the NSFL until the linemen are granted their right to a pro bowl appearance. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of this league until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the OL community must not lead us to a distrust of all other players, for many of our brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the OL are the victim of the unspeakable horrors of not being in the pro bowl. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of grinding TPE, cannot gain lodging in the rosters of the NSFL due to high TPE bots. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "No offensive linemen in this pro bowl". No, no, we are not satisfied.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the NSFL dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Canton, the sons of former offensive linemen and the sons of former skill players will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the position they play but by the content of their character.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, OL and DL, CBs and WRs, QBs and RBs, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old lineman spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Two years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, created the Offensive Lineman of the Year award. This momentous award came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of offensive linemen who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But two years later, the OL still is not free. Two years later, the life of the OL is still sadly crippled by the lack of recognition and the chains of discrimination. Two years later, the OL lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Two years later, the OL is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our league wrote the magnificent words of the rulebook, they were signing a promissory note to which every player was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, offensive line-men as well as those in skill positions and defence, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her offensive linemen are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the offensive linemen people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of a pro bowl appearance.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of not being in the pro bowl to the sunlit path of the pro bowl. Now is the time to lift our league from the quicksands of positional injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the home office to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the offensive linemens legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. S21 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Offensive linemen needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the league returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in the NSFL until the linemen are granted their right to a pro bowl appearance. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of this league until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the OL community must not lead us to a distrust of all other players, for many of our brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the OL are the victim of the unspeakable horrors of not being in the pro bowl. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of grinding TPE, cannot gain lodging in the rosters of the NSFL due to high TPE bots. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "No offensive linemen in this pro bowl". No, no, we are not satisfied.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the NSFL dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Canton, the sons of former offensive linemen and the sons of former skill players will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the position they play but by the content of their character.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, OL and DL, CBs and WRs, QBs and RBs, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old lineman spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”