Amidst the racial divide and numerous episodes of police brutality apparent in this country, we’ve seen numerous players show displays of protest.
What started with Colin Kaepernick sitting during the National Anthem, other players joined his cause, kneeling or raising their fists prior to their games. Though many wondered how exactly protesting would help the cause they were protesting about to begin with, we saw a few players make large donations to supporting causes and charities. What Green Bay Packers’ Ha Ha Clinton Dix is doing may be the most commendable of all.
The safety is going back to school in order to finish his criminal justice degree in order to put himself in a position where he can help directly.
Clinton-Dix has re-enrolled at the University of Alabama where he was a star player for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide, leaving early to enter the NFL Draft in 2014.
According to FOX Sports, he wants to ensure that there is a connection between law enforcement and the public and is hoping to make a difference in that regard.
“I understand what’s going on in this world,” Clinton-Dix said, via ESPN. “But cops have to go home at the end of the day. They have a family. They have to go home, too. Growing up where I’m from, some people are afraid of cops. They don’t really like cops. And what a lot of people don’t realize is, they’re really not the bad guys. They’re really on our side, they’re really trying to help us out. And sometimes, we don’t understand that.”
Due to football season, 23-year-old isn’t currently taking classes at Alabama, taking a semester off. He does plan to graduate in the fall 2017, having spent training camp working on school work and studying, of course no small task.
The Packers star noted how it was like having two jobs at the same time.
Clinton-Dix grew up in the suburbs surrounding Orlando wanting to become a police officer.
“You have homework due at 11:59 p.m. every Friday,” he said. “Then I’d go straight to sleep. I went into criminal justice because I want to learn more about the law, about what’s going on in this world, and be a mentor to kids from where I’m from,” Clinton-Dix said. “To [help them] understand that the law isn’t against you, it’s actually for you. You have to put yourself in people’s shoes in certain situations because you don’t know what people really think or what they’re really going through. I feel for the cops, I feel for us as a society as a whole, period. I just hope we can find peace and justice and get back to getting better in this world. That’s how it was going. We were getting better. And I just hope it goes back to that way.”
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is a prime example of being the change you want to see in the world.
