Albright College would
READING, Pa. -- The invitations have already started coming in for Gyree Durante, perhaps the nation's first college football player to be dismissed from a team for kneeling during the national anthem.
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Durante spent Tuesday at the statehouse in Harrisburg as a guest of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus and met several members of the Philadelphia Eagles, including Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Long. He'd also been invited to speak at a planned protest at his school, Albright College, the week before but that was cancelled. He might also attend a proposed student-led demonstration at Albright's football game Saturday.
"Some would say that I'm [an activist] and some would say that I'm not," Durante told ESPN.com. "But I don't think I've done enough work to call myself that yet."
What's clear is there's work for him out there [url=http://www.authenticbluejacketsstore.com/-31-anton-forsberg-jersey_c-435.html]Anton Forsberg Youth jersey[/url] if he's willing to embrace all of the opportunities, improbable as it all may seem for the reserved 19-year-old.
Neither Durante nor Albright College would've seemed likely candidates to be near the center of a roiling national debate over freedom of speech, police brutality and the national anthem that peaked in recent weeks with a running feud between the NFL and President Donald TrumpWhen Durante kneeled on the sideline in defiance of the team's agreed-upon plan for protest, he thrust himself and Albright into a spotlight all but unheard of for a football program almost as far from the big time as possible and this idyllic campus of 2,300 students nestled by the foot of Mount Penn.
In many ways, Durante's stance -- and subsequent punishment -- by Albright inadvertently exposed why many college athletes have been absent from public activism that started anew with Colin Kaepernick and resulted in Trump criticizing [url=http://www.officialmetsproshop.com/Tug_Mcgraw_Jersey]http://www.officialmetsproshop.com/Tug_Mcgraw_Jersey[/url] the NFL for not penalizing players who kneel: Most have little leverage against their coaches and none of the protections collectively bargained by the [url=http://www.authenticfootballonlinestore.com/arizona-cardinals-c-1574_1580.html]http://www.authenticfootballonlinestore.com/arizona-cardinals-c-157...[/url] pros.
"They're just going to get the pain," said Harry Edwards, famed sports sociologist and civil rights activist. "Because they're unknowns. Who cares about" a Division III athlete, he said.
Things came to a head the week before Albright's Oct. 7 game against Delaware Valley University, when the team's 24-member leadership council voted to kneel during the coin toss to show unity and stand during the national anthemDurante decided to take a knee during the anthem on his own and was kicked off the team two days later.
Albright eventually backtracked as news of the dismissals made it into headlines around the country and many on campus balked at the punishment, including a rare public statement from school faculty. "His dismissal is a threat to freedom of conscience and freedom of speech," the statement read.
Albright president Jacquelyn Fentrow offered Durante reinstatement last week, saying [url=http://www.authenticbluejacketsstore.com/-31-anton-forsberg-jersey_c-435.html]Anton Forsberg Youth jersey[/url] in a written statement that "what we understood to be shared agreement among players, student leaders, and coaches has not been adequately supported."
But Durante said he declined the president's offer after [url=http://www.officialwhitesoxproshop.com/Nellie_Fox_Jersey]http://www.officialwhitesoxproshop.com/Nellie_Fox_Jersey[/url] a brief meeting Wednesday with head football coach John Marzka and co-athletic director Rick Ferry.
"I don't think they were surprised," Durante said. "I just felt like it was too late by that point."
No officials at Albright -- including the school's president, athletic director and football coach -- were made available to comment despite several attempts by ESPN.com.
Thus brought a close to what started off as a promising homecoming for Durante, who was raised in nearby Ephrata, about 20 miles south of Albright. The oldest of three children borne to a semi-pro basketball coach and an accountant, Durante was raised in a home where willfullness was one of the family heirlooms.
"No, we didn't walk outside with picket lines," said Ronnell Durante, his father. "But I also taught my son that you don't have to surrender your thoughts and beliefs to people because it makes them uncomfortable."
Gyree Durante and his family moved to South Florida for his final three years of high school, where he helped West Broward High School earn its first playoff berth as a senior but broke his leg near the end of the 2015 regular season. That injury meant the end of a handful of football scholarship offers at [url=http://www.authenticbluejacketsstore.com/-31-anton-forsberg-jersey_c-435.html]Anton Forsberg Youth jersey[/url] bigger schools like Marist and Lafayette.
In stepped the coaching staff at Albright, which saw a steal in Durante -- an athletic and sturdily built prospect (6-foot, 195 pounds) who also excelled in the classroom. From Durante's perspective, Albright offered him the chance to go to school in an area with which he was already familiar and where family was only a short drive away. It seemed like a good fit

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