JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted a town hall meeting Tuesday night to confront social issues and how to tackle the problems in a constructive manner.
The meeting was held inside EverBank Field with a panel of stakeholders and leaders that shared perspectives on working together, instead of against each other.
The goal of the group gathering was to continue a dialogue that fosters positive relationships among athletes, officers, youth, military and city leaders.
"I feel like meetings like these are needed to bring that peace which is something I want and we need not only in our city but I feel our country has lost," 5,000 Role Models of Excellence member Cameron Spicer said.
Audience members watched and listened to the hour-long discussion moderated by former NFL player Marcus Pollard.
"It helps me because now I can better understand what we need and how the mayor and police officers can help our community," Keon Hudson, another member of 5,000 Role Models of Excellence, said.
Three current Jaguars players participated in the discussion, as well as Mayor Lenny Curry, Assistant Chief T.K. Waters from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and retired Admiral Victory Guillory.
The mayor's comment about people needing to admit the truth of racial inequality across the country and in our community really resonated with the audience.
He said facing the reality can lead to changing the reality.
"He put it out there, he kept it real," Jaguars player Kelvin Beachum said. "We asked them to be transparent. I think he was. No, I know he was very transparent to be able to come out and say it."
Curry's transparency was not lost on the audience and certainly appreciated by other panelists.
Jaguars player Carson Tinker attended the meeting and brought up the issues of getting police and kids together.
"That's just something that I can do is use my platform, being a Jags player, to get kids in front of policemen and see them as humans not robots," Tinker said.
Chief Waters said being transparent is part of the process for making the event a long-term success.
"It gives us an opportunity to say 'listen, we're humans.' We are members of this community and we want to share and show you that, one, we're trustworthy and truly want to work for you and not against you," Waters said. "We want to be advocates, not adversaries. That's our goal."
Others who attended the town hall said they hope it will be a good start to making change. A woman from Charlotte who attended said she hope the Carolina Panthers will do something similar in the future.
The Jaguars may even start a national movement inside the NFL after the town hall meeting brought hopes of success.