In 2016, when then-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice, Taylor Trammell watched, confused.
Now a top Padres prospect, Trammell months earlier had been drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round after graduating from Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Ga. Initially he thought Kaepernick was disrespecting the American flag.
“My dad, he served in the Navy for nine years,” Trammell said. “I thought, ‘Wait, is he disrespecting my dad?’ and that’s when I kind of had a problem with it. I thought, he needs to find a better way to do this.”
Through what he described as personal growth and “educating myself,” Trammell, who is African-American, eventually found clarity in Kaepernick’s message.
“Growing and understanding what he was actually talking about, it made me understand, he’s doing this for me,” Trammell said.
Now, Trammell is using his own voice to enact change. Through social media — his Twitter and Instagram s reach more than 25,000 combined followers — he’s speaking against racial injustice and the death of George Floyd, aware that in the past, baseball culture has not always warmed to players talking publicly about sensitive matters.
“For me to speak out about this, I’m going to be honest, it was tough,” Trammell said. “I know how a lot of people can be on the internet and on social media, but if I can speak up and use my voice, that’s what I’m going to do.
“I’m not just a baseball player. I’m a black Christian male in America. I’m a son, I’m a brother, I’m a boyfriend. I’m giving people my personal experiences and that’s what I’m going to continue to do, because if it was George Floyd one day, who’s to say it’s not me the next day? Or my brother, or my best friend">
A recent post by Trammell on Instagram called for lasting against racism, saying the issue is “not a trend to just put on your [Instagram feed] for clout” or “something to check off your list … to make you feel good about yourself.”
“I get emotional sometimes when I see posts from people who go to rallies, who post a fist up, and then they’re gone,” Trammell said. “This is my life. This is our lives that we’re talking about. This isn’t something to play with. Value this. Value our lives. Understand what we’re going through. It’s not just so you can take a picture and hope to gain 200 followers.”
Padres prospect Taylor Trammell on being a black male in America, racial injustice and speaking out
Like many black youth, Trammell re his parents talking to him about what to do if a police officer pulled him over — “Having that fear in the back of your head, like am I going to get a good cop or a bad cop” — and the one rule his parents gave him when he would go out: “Come back alive.”
He recalls a police officer in Powder Springs, Ga., where he grew up, who is an “unbelievable officer,” he said. “I’ve had so many conversations with him. I understand what kind of man he is, and that I’m not going to get someone [like him] every time.”
The 22-year-old outfielder said trying to process the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Floyd has been difficult.
“It’s been a lot of fear, anger and sadness,” Trammell said. “A lot of tough conversations, a lot of tears. Also a lot of hurt, because you see a lot of people who you thought were there for you, who aren’t willing to understand the issue.”
Friends around the league have reached out to check on Trammell and talk about the situation, including Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux and Red Sox infielder Michael Chavis.
“That’s meant the world to me,” said Trammell, who participated in his first big-league spring training earlier this year and continues to train in Georgia while the coronavirus pandemic keeps professional baseball shut down.
He outlines five steps to change — listen, understand, ask questions, speak up, educate yourself — and hopes action will follow the current global dialogue surrounding racial injustice.
“I’ve been ed to vote since 2018 and I hadn’t voted,” Trammell said. “I was very disappointed with myself the last few years because I didn’t do it. People have died for this. People have died for us to be able to come out here and vote, speak up and peacefully protest.
“It can’t fade away. It can’t just dwindle down after a week or two. I’m speaking up because I didn’t speak up at one point in time and that hurts me to this day. It’s my responsibility to continue to keep standing up and saying what is right.”
