Jamie Nye: Crosby, McDavid are allowed to be silent

There are those now looking at the athletes who are staying quiet on racism, protests and violence in the United States.

Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Tom Brady are starting to be called out for their silence. No tweets, no Instagram posts — nothing coming from three of the biggest white stars in sports.

Of course, if you’re looking for Sidney Crosby on social media, it’ll be a long search because he’s not on it. He’s incredibly private and because of that it should be no surprise he’ll likely keep his thoughts private on this issue.

We’ve seen plenty of white athletes put their voices behind the Black Lives Matter movement.

Would it be nice for all white athletes to voice their support? Of course. Should it be mandatory they put their voice out there? No. Should their reputation be questioned if they don’t? No.

This is a fight that needs leadership. It needs education. It needs empathy and understanding. What it doesn’t need is to shame people to send out a hollow social media post to save face.

Let’s celebrate those helping pull the rope and hope that inspires others to join.