A public service announcement honoring the life and legacy of Botham Jean, the young man who was murdered in his own apartment by a Dallas cop, will air during Super Bowl LIV on February 2.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the 2-minute video was released online Wednesday morning. The powerful PSA is meant to show the “human cost of police brutality,” from the perspective of Jean’s family, the family’s attorney, Lee Merritt said.
https://t.co/0k9IQU4xM5We are in this together.#EveryonesChild #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/yaH04eG2OA
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2020
Merritt told the Morning News that the video was produced by RocNation (the entertainment agency founded by rapper and businessman Jay Z), in partnership with the Botham Jean Foundation and the NFL.
Some may raise eyebrows at the somber video, which spoke about the beauty of Jean’s soul and presence before his life was snatched away by now-former Dallas officer Amber Guyger, who was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 10-years in prison.
After all, the NFL has faced continued scrutiny and criticism for not exactly siding with players—most notably Colin Kaepernick—when began taking the knee to protest police brutality.
But Merritt called the PSA “a step in the right direction.”
“Since then, the NFL has worked to see what they could do to try to right their wrongs,” Merritt said. “This isn’t the compromise that I was hoping for. I was hoping that the players would be released to resume their on-the-field protest. But this is a step in the right direction.”
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