Members of the St. Louis Rams sparked a controversy on Sunday when they decided to walk onto the field with the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture that protesters have used in Ferguson, Missouri. St. Louis police called for an apology from the team and later said that they received one. However, the team disputes that story.
Five players - tight end Jared Cook and wide receivers Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Kenny Britt and Chris Givens - used the gesture before the team’s 52-0 victory over the Oakland Raiders. They didn’t tell head coach Jeff Fisher that they planned to do it, but the Fisher later said that he would not discipline them. The NFL has also said that the league won’t fine them.
After the game, the St. Louis Police Officers Association said they were “profoundly disappointed” by the gesture and wanted an apology. The organization’s president, Gabe Croker, also called it “classless,” reports the St. Louis Dispatch.
Later, as CNN notes, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told his staff in an email Monday that the Rams’ COO called to apologize.
“I received a very nice call this morning from Mr. Kevin Demoff of the St. Louis Rams who wanted to take the opportunity to apologize to our department on behalf of the Rams for the ‘Hands Up’ gesture that some players took the field with yesterday,” that email read.
However, a Rams spokesman told CNN, “We did not apologize.”
The St. Louis County Police Department later took the spat to Twitter, insisting that Demoff apologized to them.
The players said after the game that they wanted to show support for the local community, which has been rocked by protests and violence since a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.