Emotional Hawkins defends protest T-shirt

Associated Press

BEREA

His eyes filling with tears, Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins spoke passionately about a decision he knew would bring backlash and possibly harm his reputation.

For Hawkins, there was no choice.

A day after he wore a T-shirt protesting two shootings in Ohio involving police and victims carrying fake guns, Hawkins said he was motivated out of fear that one day something tragic could happen to his 2-year-old son.

Hawkins wore the black shirt during pre-game warmups and introductions Sunday before Cleveland hosted the Cincinnati Bengals. The messages read: “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford” on the front and “The Real Battle for Ohio” on the back.

The 12-year-old Rice died Nov. 22 after he was shot by a rookie officer investigating a complaint about the youngster, who was carrying a fake gun. Crawford, 22, was fatally shot Aug. 5 while holding an air-pellet rifle inside a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio.

Hawkins spoke for six minutes Monday at his locker without taking questions. He said he wanted to address the situation after Cleveland police union president Jeff Follmer called his actions “pathetic” and told cleveland.com Hawkins is “disrespecting the police on a job that we had to do and make a split-second decision.”

Hawkins’ one-man protest was supported by the Browns, who said in a statement that they respected both the police and their players’ rights to take on causes.