DAVIE, Fla. – Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins plans to make his voice heard.
The 2019 first-round pick talked about the protests around the country concerning racial injustice and police brutality and said that it’s personal for him.
When Wilkins was 15, his grandfather was killed in a police-involved shooting.
“What’s going on in the country right now is extremely personal for me,” he said. “I experienced it with my family. Whether it was brothers or close family and friends. A lot of people know the story of what happened to my grandfather.
“It’s my job to use my platform to shed a positive light, to be a spark of hope through all of this,” he added.
As far as kneeling for the national anthem, Wilkins said he’ll figure it out as the season gets closer.
He believes it’s something that the team will talk about.
“It hurts to see what’s happening to a lot of people that look like me,” he said. “It’s something that’s been going on forever and stuff that we’ve had to deal with. But the rest of the world is really starting to see what we go through as a black community.”