Houston-area high school stars and ESPN 300 prospects Bobby Taylor and Hunter Washington announced that they will be following in the examples of professional athletes and sitting out games in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Taylor and Hunter both play for Katy High School and said they will not participate in their team’s first scrimmage on Sept. 17 followed by the first game of the season on Sept. 25 to raise awareness for social justice.
“I just feel like that our voices need to be heard and seen,” said Washington, a four-star cornerback in the class of 2021 who is committed to Florida State.
“Everything is not about sports. That’s really the bigger picture.”
Taylor is a four-star safety in the class of 2022 who lists Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M among his final choices.
“With the platform that I have that I can make a big impact on a whole bunch of high school guys because I know a lot of us play big roles for schools,” Taylor said. “I felt like using my platform could just start a movement to see this is not a joke. This is real life.”
Taylor said his mother and stepfather, Nakia and Lynn Price, played a big role in his decision after discussions at home about the professional leagues’ decisions not to play and the impact it made.
✊🏽Respect It pic.twitter.com/CgRR2fLzqe
— ʙᴛ3 (@TheBobbyTaylor) August 28, 2020
He said sitting out is meant to be just one step to furthering the conversation.
“Really, I just hope to wake enough people up. Even if it’s something little — it doesn’t have to be anything big — I want people to realize that people of my skin color are being treated unfairly, and that’s just the world that we’re living in. We need your help, because this is just crazy.”
Taylor said he talked to his coach, Gary Joseph, Friday morning about his family’s discussion, and Joseph asked if that’s what he wanted to do.
“He said OK,” Taylor said. “It’s great that my head coach stands by me what I’m doing.”
Joseph and Katy have made nine Texas state title game appearances since 2000, including winning five championships.
“Our team will still be the same,” Washington said. “Everyone’s talented. We’ll just be on the sideline watching and supporting our teammates.”