The Falcons and Seahawks will honor the life of late Congressman John Lewis by wearing white armbands featuring his initials in Sunday’s game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Falcons players will also wear shirts that feature a quote from Lewis on the front and the Rise Up & Vote logo on the back during pregame warmups.
The Falcons have also named Lewis as an honorary captain for the game.
“With everything going on right now in the world, we thought it would be best to start off with somebody as legendary as John Lewis,” free safety Ricardo Allen said. "He’s done so much for …one of our biggest things that we want to stay connected with ... is the Voting (Rights) Act. We know that John Lewis, was a big part of that and a big ready why that is a part of the world today.
“To be able to tie that in with our team and be able to do it with such a great man as John Lewis, someone that I’ve been blessed enough to go down and do the Selma walk with myself. I was all in for it with him.”
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Players also have the option to wear a phrase or the names of victims of systemic racism on the back of their helmets during the season.
Among the participants, Matt Ryan will wear ‘It Takes All of Us,’ Julio Jones will wear ‘Aiyana Stanley-Jones,’ Todd Gurley will wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Grady Jarrett will wear ‘Breonna Taylor.’
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