Jewish NFL player: ‘My teammates have always been supportive and interested in my faith’
Mitchell Schwartz, offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs. Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman July 10, 2020
Mitchell Schwartz, a Jewish NFL player, responded Wednesday evening on Twitter to Philadelphia Eagles player DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic social media posts.
Jackson shared an anti-Semitic statement attributed to Hitler on Instagram, leading to a wide backlash on social media. Jackson later defended his comments before ultimately apologizing.
“Although in my personal experience my teammates have always been supportive and interested in my faith, Anti-Semitism is on the rise in this country,” wrote Schwartz, an offensive tackle with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Schwartz did not directly criticize Jackson for his post or response, instead saying that he wants to “use this moment to shed light on and bring awareness to the hate and oppression the Jewish Community still faces while standing strong with the Black Lives Matter movement.”
Some thoughts… pic.twitter.com/YU8onvRykA
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) July 9, 2020
On Thursday, Julian Eidelman, a Jewish Patriots player, invited DeSean Jackson to “grab some burgers, and have those uncomfortable conversations.”
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
