A friend and leaguemate of mine, Chad Chervitz (he gave me permission to share his name) approached me with an idea: adding Colin Kaepernick to every team’s roster as a show of support for his ongoing efforts to combat racial injustice. Although the league that Chad and I share ultimately voted not to do this, I brought Chad’s idea to another league, The House League.
In The House League, another member, Michael Hanson (he also game me permission to share his name) suggested that adding Kaepernick alone feels like an empty gesture. In addition, he advocated, we should be donating money in our league’s name and in honor of Kaepernick’s ongoing fight against racial injustice to a cause that addresses systemic racism in some way. Indeed, we each added $10 to our $117 dues, and we made a donation to Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp.
Fantasy football is and should primarily be for fun, not for charity or fundraising. And I do not believe that any league should feel an imperative to incorporate the fight against racial injustice into it. Still, I am deeply grateful for Chad’s idea, Michael’s suggestion, and all my friends and leaguemates in The House League for helping combine our love of fantasy football with our capacity to do even a small part to combat racial injustice and to make this world a better place.
