“(Coach) told us we are all far from perfect and all have things to work on,” (Cary) Williams said. “The issue to me is that there is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. It’s an unfortunate situation for the team to go through this.”
Williams added suggestions on what he thought the team needed to do in continuing to address the situation. More meetings, with Cooper present — he was not Friday — and possible one-on-ones with Cooper.
“When he addressed us, he did it in the bubble (The NovaCare Complex indoor practice center) and I didn’t hear what he said,” said Williams. “I could tell by the tears on his face that he was sincere, but some guys need to hear it. We have great leaders like Mike Vick and Jason Avant and DeMeco Ryans. They’re willing to forgive and we want to follow our leadership.
“We could try to sweep this under the rug and worry about the season, but to me this supersedes the season and you have to address it straight up. We had meetings, but things still need to be addressed.”
Williams went on to explain that his grandmother had told him stories about racism that was directed toward her when she was growing up. He also said the word shouldn’t be used in any circumstance.
“Nobody,” Williams said. “Black, white, green, purple, blue. It’s used so loosely in the locker room, in life in general.
Sometimes we desensitize the word, but you have to look back at our ancestors who worked so hard to rid us of that name.”
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Real nikka talking.