HOOVER, Ala.—Many people across America felt pain over the shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5.
Celebrities, politicians and musicians were among those who expressed their feelings about Sterling’s death. LSU junior running back Leonard Fournette, was one of those people.
Fournette tweeted a picture of himself wearing a shirt with Sterling on it, with the caption “Alton sterling….”
“It came from my heart,” Fournette said. “I hate to see another child not to grow up without their father, that’s something our generation goes through everyday … I have a voice. It’s all about how you say it. My team did a wonderful job of handling the whole situation.”
LSU coach Les Miles first heard about the Alton Sterling shooting from a phone call by his wife, Katy, and decided to call meeting with his players.
The “unity council,” comprised of players and his entire staff, came together to discuss the shooting death of Sterling, who was killed outside a Triple S convenience store on by police after he was suspected of pointing a gun at a bystander in the area.
Team leaders such as Fournette, junior quarterback Brandon Harris and senior center Ethan Pocic were among the players that spoke in the meeting. LSU senior cornerback Tre’Davious White said in the meeting that the players just wanted to get their feelings out and make sure they were all on the same page.
Miles described the beginning of the meeting as “quiet” and “numb.” He later divided the team up by position groups.
“I help my guys in some way process emotion,” Miles said. “I don’t know that I’ve done a very good job. I don’t know that I personally have processed the emotion that I see when I – when our country is displayed as it is.”
White said watching the video of Sterling being shot by police officers was “terrible,” and the recent events in Baton Rouge were “horrible”.
“I feel so bad for the family,” White said. “That could’ve happened anywhere. That could’ve been my dad. I don’t know it feels, but I know if in I was in that situation I would feel the same way. If us as football players and us as LSU come together and stand as one, I feel like the community will be behind us too.”
As Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said at the opening of SEC Media Days, sports has a way to unite people, which is the same sentiment Fournette expressed on Thursday.
“We have to keep praying until a change comes,” Fournette said. “I also believe that things will change. Our job is just to keep playing, at the end of the day football is a Louisiana thing, that’ll always bring everybody together.”
