These days, with increasing frequency, sports and politics are destined to collide.
A case in point is U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) reaching out to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to assure a safe departure and return for Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter. Kanter was issued an international arrest warrant from the Turkish government, Kanter’s home country. Had the Trail Blazers defeated the Golden State Warriors in this year’s Western Conference Finals, Kanter and team would have headed to Toronto to face the Raptors in the NBA Finals. Kanter had already missed a regular-season game at Toronto to avoid the risk of being arrested there.
From Kanter to Kaepernick, sports are no longer the guaranteed escape.
FURTHER READING: Etan Thomas and the intersection between athletes, activism
Portland Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse is one athlete who seems to embrace the collision between sports and politics.
Ebobisse’s platform of choice is often Twitter, where he lists criminal justice and educational reform as his passions and where a tweet about his excitement for soccer is as likely to appear next to a comment on a Supreme Court nominee, higher education, reproductive rights or racism.
He’s expressive on the field, as well, helping lead the Timbers to the 2018 MLS Cup and riding a wave as the current team leader in goals for the 2019 season.
Born in Paris, Ebobisse attended college at Duke University, where he was awarded All-ACC Academic Team and ACC Academic Honor Roll. He left college after his sophomore season to declare for the 2017 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
Ebobisse spoke with Street Roots about how living in Portland has shaped his perspective on social justice, homelessness and more.
DeVon Pouncey: How has living and playing professional soccer in Portland enhanced your passion for tackling social justice issues, if at all?
Jeremy Ebobisse: When you look at Portland from an outsider’s perspective, you see a city that’s really passionate about inclusivity, and coming into Portland, that’s the only thing I’d noticed. Playing with the Timbers, obviously we stand for something good. We’re inclusive, and we try to help out the community as much as we can. That’s something that has rubbed off on me, knowing that I have this new platform within a team that is really supported by this city. I feel like I need to give back, as well. It aligns with the way I see my role in society outside of soccer.
Pouncey: What are your thoughts about homelessness in this city?
Ebobisse: It’s something I’ve noticed. I live in the Pearl, and every time I step out of my apartment, I see a handful to dozens of homeless people, and it’s usually the same ones kind of hanging around. Although I’m not directly involved and affected by this situation, and I don’t know what it’s like to be in those shoes, it’s disappointing a little bit on the inside. It’s not a problem that just Portland faces, but a lot of major cities do. I know that it’s no different in (Washington) D.C., where I’m from, and even in some of the suburbs around there.
Do we as individuals have a role to play in helping homelessness? Of course, but at the same time, I think the change has to come from up top, which would be local, state and federal governments. It’s happening right under everyone’s nose, and we see it on a day-to-day basis. In the winter and spring when it rains, it makes things that much harder, and I try to personally – and maybe it’s still not enough – donate as many clothes as I can to shelters.
Pouncey: In the 2017 Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft, many expected you to be drafted as the first overall pick. You ended up being the fourth overall pick by the Portland Timbers. Do you think that the way you use your platform played a role in you not being picked in one of those top three spots?
Ebobisse: That’s a good question. It’s tough for me to say for sure. I can say that in my young career, I’ve had people talking to my entourage, whomever that might be, whether it’s my family or business partners, and say that I should tone down on what I talk about and that I should stick to soccer. They don’t say it in a malicious way, but they think it’ll preserve and protect my career.
At the end of the day, if – and it’s a big if because I highly doubt that it played any role – it was to have played a role, then that’s probably not an organization that I necessarily want to play for. I hesitate to think that it played any role because in my pre-draft meetings, they all asked me about my social media, and the reception was really positive, and sometimes they even encouraged me to go farther in it. I think it’s definitely something that the modern soccer coach is open to and respects.
Pouncey: Are there any past or present athlete activists that you look up to?
Ebobisse: Most recently I think LeBron James has risen above a lot of noise both athletically and off the court. The way that he handles himself and all of his business and philanthropic endeavors is something that amazes me. A guy that big still cares about the same issues he may have dealt with growing up. It just shows me that you’re never too big to make a difference outside of your sport. Obviously a lot of young athletes will aspire to be like him, but what he’s done over the last five to 10 years has added another element to his outward persona. It’s something that I know I’m not the only young athlete that respects and dreams of having a similar impact.
Pouncey: Do you think that all professional athletes that derive from marginalized communities should use their platform in similar ways that you do? Or do you think there are limitations or some sort of preparation required?
Ebobisse: Most importantly, if you’re going to speak out about something, you have to know what you’re speaking out about, whether it’s from experience or what you studied. You can go out and have an opinion that isn’t based on facts, but it’s ill advised and opens you up for more criticism. You have to be familiar with what you’re talking about and, from there, being in a position where people listen to you. You have the opportunity to do good for kids looking up to you and going through similar trials and tribulations that you have. We can’t take that for granted. We love our sport more than anything else we’d rather be doing, but at the same time, the power and the beauty in how far we’ve come gives us an opportunity to help usher in a new generation.
Pouncey: Lastly, for quite some time, professional athletes in America have received criticism for being overpaid in comparison to other public jobs and occupations. Being a professional athlete yourself in this country, what are your thoughts in regard to this criticism?
Ebobisse: Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I’d say athletics isn’t the most well-paid profession in this country by any means. Athletes provide a service that props up an industry with the help of a lot of other people who should be compensated for that. But I do believe there are a lot of other people that do make a lot more money that don’t get as much attention. Even if you look at the MLS, the disparity in pay is really wide and you have entry-level players making $50,000 a year. That’s not a bad salary at all, but it’s not the glamorous salary that the public might think when they associate that with a professional athlete. Professional athletes have earned their way to where they are.
What I don’t like hearing, especially in the case of guys like Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James and other African-American athletes, is that they should be grateful to be a professional athlete making the money that they make. To me that’s a bit more personal than regular criticism. It’s not given to these guys; they have to work for it and overcome a lot of odds.
And before I go, if we’re going to have the conversation of professional athletes being overpaid, then we automatically have to talk about collegiate athletes being underpaid. I’ll go on the record and say that especially when it comes to football and basketball, that people profit hundreds of millions of dollars – I would assume, if not more – in sponsorships, ticket sales and revenue. For the players not to receive a cent needs to be addressed more than anything else.
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