Nearly one week after a controversial partnership was struck between the NFL and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins sounded cautiously optimistic about its potential impact.
The twofold agreement somewhat benignly tasks Jay-Z's entertainment company Roc Nation with improving the NFL's live musical performances such as the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and perhaps more alarmingly tasks the rapper with "amplify(ing) the league's social justice efforts."
Critics of the deal - and there are many - view the latter function as anything from a cynical money grab on the part of Jay-Z to a perversion of the social justice ideals that free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled over.
Jenkins, who himself has been on the forefront of the fight for social justice reform, working with officials in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., implied there isn't yet enough information to pass judgment on the new partnership, noting Jay-Z has a history of involvement in such matters.
We're all kind of waiting to see kind of what the details are," said Jenkins after Monday's practice. "As a player who's had to negotiate with the league and sit across from billionaires and talk about issues and why they should be important and why the NFL should be highlighting them, I think having somebody like Jay-Z who can add to that conversation - he does these things on a daily basis, has a history of doing those things - helps us as players to have an ally like that, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that turns into.
Of course, Jenkins and those in Kaepernick's camp haven't always seen eye to eye. Panthers safety Eric Reid once referred to the Eagles star as a "sellout" during an on-field confrontation, though the two have since mended fences.
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It's perhaps worth noting then that Kaepernick did not name Jenkins in a recent Tweet that some construed as a shot toward the Jay-Z deal.
My Brothers @E_Reid35 @KSTiLLS @iThinkIsee12 continue to fight for the people, even in the face of death threats. They have never moved past the people and continue to put their beliefs into action. Stay strong Brothers!!! ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/OQClsZXD5V— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) August 18, 2019
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