While the trade deadline is dominating headlines across the NFL media landscape on Tuesday, the biggest story of day is happening away from the world of professional sports: the United States Presidential Election, that also features countless lower-level elections for state and local representatives all over the country.
In order to encourage people to participate, players from across the league have taken to social media — among them New England Patriots defensive backs Devin and Jason McCourty. The two twin brothers posted the video above on Tuesday morning, sharing their thoughts on the election.
“When you talk about voting, a lot of people sometimes think their vote doesn’t matter,” Devin said in the clip. “I’ve learned a lot, with all our elected officials out there. Sometimes even like a district attorney. When people are getting charged with things, people get angry and they’re mad: ‘Why are they doing this?’ And some people don’t realize that you get to vote for that elected official.
“I just want to encourage everyone: go out there, use your voice to vote. You have some control. You can decide who runs and who makes decisions, and you can inspire the people behind us, the generation that’s coming up, the people who have just turned 18. Inspire them to vote and use their voice.”
The McCourty Twins have always been among the most outspoken players on New England’s roster when it comes to advocating for social change or political issues. The two teams captains are actively participating in numerous community projects aimed at improving education opportunities, and also repeatedly made their voices heard during the protests for racial equality that took place all over the country earlier this year.
Those calls for change were also echoed by Jason during his portion of the segment.
“As we watch and we see the things that are going on in our country, let that inspire us to go out there and try to voice our change by doing it at the ballots,” he said. “When things occur and we say things need to be different and we want them to change, now we have an opportunity to do that. And when we go out there and we use our right to vote, we give ourselves a chance to make change in our country and to make change in our communities all around us.”
Executing one’s right to vote can be difficult, however, with Election Day still not taking place on a weekend or being named a nation-wide holiday in the United States. The NFL and NFLPA did help out players, coaches and other employees, though, regardless if they are working for a club or the league as a whole: facilities across the country are closed on November 3rd to give people a chance to cast their vote.
Speaking to an audience beyond the NFL, Devin McCourty shared a simple message during his and his twin brother’s video.
“Don’t waste time. Go vote.”
For more information about the voting process — including how you can participate — please click here. You can also find additional updates about the 2020 U.S. Election, over at our friends at Vox.