In honor of the victims of Friday’s attacks in Paris, NFL teams held a moment of silence before each game on Sunday. During the Lions and Packers game in Green Bay, someone in the stands yelled out something Islamophobic and after the game, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t let the derogatory remark go —
“I think it’s important to do things like [the moment of silence]. We’re a connected world, you know — six degrees of separation,” Rodgers stated. “I must admit, though, I was very disappointed with whoever the fan was who made a comment that I thought was really inappropriate, during the moment of silence. It’s that kind of prejudicial ideology that I think puts us in the position that we’re in today, as a world.”
And in turn, Rodgers has been hailed as a “stand up guy.” “Rodgers couldn’t have handled it better,” the liberal blog Addicting Info wrote. “Rather than ignore the hatred, Rodgers faced it head on and pointed out why it’s not okay. The same kind of dehumanizing prejudice that leads to a person shamefully yelling ‘Muslims suck’ during a moment of silence also motivates extremists to rationalize killing innocents in the name of their religion, or cause, or ideology. The world doesn’t need more ‘us vs. them,’ despite how tempting it is to look for easy scapegoats during times of fear.”
