- I don't like using the word politics in sports.

I would call it social issues in sports.

- Okay.

- Which are just things that affect all of us in general.

And if you go, you can go Olympics in the '30s in Germany.

You can go Olympics in LA.

You can go Rishard Matthews for the Titans taking a knee after his brother died in Afghanistan.

Like, you can't talk about sports without talking about society, about people, about experiences.

And so to suggest that they should be separate in any way I've always thought is hilarious, because it's just not a thing.

Now, is there a time that people that are listening, like, when I'm doing sports talk radio, do I know that people are looking to get away in their car for 10 minutes on the way home?

And do we need to be having every day like these deep, meaningful, important conversations?

Probably not.

I know that they wanna argue about the quarterback or the third down call or whatever.

So we gotta give, there is a getaway there for some people.

But at the same time, if it's an important issue, like, sports has always kinda pulled society forward a lotta different ways, you know?

Again, I've written 12 book reports on Jackie Robinson.

So it's like- - Yeah.

- It's always been a part of being a sports fan.

And if you ignore that, I don't think you're being a sports fan.

- Yeah.

- I just don't think you are.

Being lucky enough to go into locker rooms, like, I was in the Titans locker room today, and the diversity of people and experiences and ideas and where they're from and what they think about the world, it's like, the locker room is such a cool, special, wonderful place.

- Yeah.

- And everybody's on the same team, doing the same thing.

- Yeah.

- So.

But in reality, like, the world is the same.

It's complicated, but you can't tell me that sports and social issues are not directly tied.

(bright music) - "A Slice of the Community" is made possible by the support of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and R.H.

Boyd.