Titans' Vaccaro: Not talking football this season

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro started his virtual news conference by informing the media that he is shutting down all football talk this season.

Vaccaro feels that it’s only appropriate to discuss social injustice, systemic oppression, racism and police brutality in light of the recent events involving the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“I’m really not going to talk football when I come into these meetings in light of recent events that have happened around the country. For me and my platform, my duty is to speak on things that are happening, and that’s just my stance. I’m just not going to talk football this year,” Vaccaro said.

This comes a day after the Titans as a team decided not to practice, instead taking time to discuss how they can move forward to create change after the latest shooting of a Black man by police. Coach Mike Vrabel said one of the main reasons the team didn’t practice was because the Titans’ frustration that the shootings continue to happen has the team wanting to find ways to spark change.

Vaccaro gave a prelude to what the Titans players plan to do going forward.

“I don’t think sitting out a practice is going to stop police from killing Black men. The next step is getting into communities. We’re going to do something that’s not just a hashtag, not just a black square people posted on Instagram and thought it meant something. We’re not going to make this a movement, we’re going to make this a lifestyle,” Vaccaro said.

Their goal is to be a shining light to the outside world of how people need to be treated. One of the ideas that came out of the conversations when they didn’t practice Thursday was to create a “Zoom with a Titan” opportunity for the fans in Middle Tennessee to talk with the players.