PHILADELPHIA — During his first four years in the NFL, Carson Wentz often spoke about developing various parts of his game, whether it was his performance in the red zone and third down or transforming his body in an attempt to avoid the injuries that has defined much of his time as a professional.
But entering his fifth season, the Eagles franchise quarterback has turned his attention to what happens when many of his teammates leave the stadium or the locker room and enter American society as Black men. Wentz has watched and listened as his teammates reacted to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year, and he’s listened this week to the reaction to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The latest part of Wentz’s development is taking place off of the football field. He’s learning what his teammates go through in everyday life, and he’s finding a voice when it comes to social justice issues.
“It’s been a lot of learning and a lot of conviction on my heart, honestly,” Wentz said on a Zoom call Thursday. “Growing up in North Dakota, and I’m sure a lot of you saw my statements after the George Floyd murder, it’s something that’s kind of new and it’s something that I’ve chosen to kind of just overlook and look past because of, I went to high school, I think I had just a couple Black classmates. And it’s something that was so foreign to me.
“And so now really, this offseason, I took a real look into showing empathy and understanding what has it been like to be a Black man in this world, in this country, and not just in today’s world, but going back 400 years to now, and how we got to this point. And so it’s been, being educated a lot, and looking at it through a different lens for me and a lot of things I’ve learned and, by no means that I have all the answers or I have it all figured out, but it’s really heavy on my heart and a lot of guys hearts in this locker room for sure.”
Much has changed for Wentz over the past year or so. He became one of the NFL’s highest-paid players last summer when the Eagles signed him to a four-year contract extension worth $128 million. He became a father in the spring. He acknowledged he felt like a veteran when he reported to training camp this season.
And the departure of safety Malcolm Jenkins in the Eagles locker room this offseason created a leadership void that Wentz is attempting to help fill. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft is 27 years old now, and Wentz acknowledged he’s become more proactive in listening to others’ voices.
“I’m growing up,” Wentz said. “I’m no longer just a kid from North Dakota that can just kind of use that card.”
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Wentz was one of the first prominent white Eagles players to speak out in late May about the death of Floyd, the 46-year-old Minneapolis man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Tight end Zach Ertz released a statement shortly after, and a couple days later, center Jason Kelce and kicker Jake Elliott spoke out on social media after listening to their Black teammates in team meetings.
Wentz’s former teammates took notice.
Later, Wentz was among the 1,400 signatures on a petition to end qualified immunity for police officers. On Thursday, he acknowledged that his view on policing has evolved in recent years.
“The fact of the matter is one bad one, and it’s all bad at the end of the day,” said Wentz, who also prefaced his response with his respect and appreciation for law enforcement.
“The fact of the matter is, you have the — as a police officer, you’re carrying a weapon, and you have life and death in your hand sometimes. That is a big task. That’s a tall task. And it’s not meant for everybody. So I don’t want to come off like I’m bashing them or anything, but you can have one or two bad ones that end up in creating deaths for communities and really inflicting that pain.”
During the nearly 15-minute Zoom call, Wentz did not shy away from questions concerning racial injustice and his views. Twice, Wentz was asked specific questions about the upcoming Eagles season or his own play. The first time, Wentz pivoted the question back to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the “crisis in our country with social injustice.” The second time, Wentz declined to answer.
Instead, Wentz kept the focus on what his teammates and other athletes can do to bring attention to widespread social issues. The Eagles held a team meeting Wednesday night and elected to practice Thursday when some of their NFL counterparts canceled practice after players elected to sit out NBA playoff games, WNBA games, some MLB games and MLS contests.
Wentz credited coach Doug Pederson with creating a space where the players could freely discuss the issues Wednesday night, and it didn’t put Thursday’s practice in question. Safety Rodney McLeod said the team has an “action plan,” and the team’s social justice committee is scheduled to meet Friday.
Wentz credited his Christian faith as something he has turned to in recent months for an example of how to help the oppressed and how to help the communities that are hurting. He’s listened, and now he wants to help his teammates and others affected by systemic racism and state violence find the answers.
“It’s a question that we’re all talking about constantly,” Wentz said. “I think there’s so many layers to the problem in our country, the problem in our world and it’s more than just what you see on the news, it’s more than what you see on TV. There’s too many evil hearts, there’s too many things that are ingrained in our culture going back 400 years to now that are just ingrained in people’s culture and mindset without a lot of people even knowing it. It’s hard to really put your finger on, ‘OK, this is how you create change,’ but I do know that we’re talking about, OK, we can’t solve all the problems but where can we really focus our efforts? Is it physically getting out into the community? Is it financially supporting an area? Is it bringing light to a certain topic or certain issue that needs to have a voice, so to speak?”
The past week has shown how far the push for racial and social justice has come in the sports world. Four years ago, former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality. On Wednesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA’s top seed, elected not to play in a playoff game.
Wentz has shown that he’s come a long way in the past four years, too. His role on the football field is well-defined as a quarterback and team leader. Now, though, he’s beginning to put the pieces together for his place in the community. He’s no longer a kid from North Dakota.
He’s someone looking for answers to create change.
“I can’t really put my finger on one thing right now,” Wentz said. “We have a committee meeting coming up here, and we’re going to talk through a lot of the things. But it is something that we want to see real change and I know the NBA and everyone’s using their platform to create that change. And some fans might not like it, but at the end of the day there’s a hurting community, and we want to reach out and respond to that hurt.”
Daniel Gallen covers the Philadelphia Eagles for PennLive. He can be reached at dgallen@pennlive.com. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Follow PennLive’s Philadelphia Eagles coverage on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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