I think people are wrong to do it, to compare him to your way of wanting to do it. If you're passionate about it, do it and do it your way. It's not always going to be in front of the cameras after a football game - that was the way I did it. Somebody else has a different way, and that's [James] LeBron, and I know who he is. And I can't get into specifics, but it did upset me that people were calling him out for that because they were just wrong.
Andrew HawkinsI understood that there would be some backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down, I felt like it was the right thing to do. And if I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward. I canโt live with that. God wouldnโt be able to put me where I am today, and as far as Iโve come in life, if I was a coward.
Andrew HawkinsWe [Cleveland Browns] are from the same segments of America that everyone else is from. We have the same diversity, the same mix, so we don't run away from issues amongst each other, because we're brothers and we have to build that bond because we're always on the quest to be world champions. That's always our quest, and if you don't have that bond, it's not going to happen. So I guess every locker room is different, but our locker room I think is more than fine.
Andrew HawkinsI'm very much still connected to the way that I've always been perceived. And it happens. I'm not trying to play up anything, it is true. I've walked by numerous cars where they've locked the doors, I get into an elevator and someone moves out of the way. I've been to a place where some people think their children shouldn't play with my children. And that breaks my heart.
Andrew HawkinsA lot of things create a distraction, and when you're on a quest as a football team you want to limit distractions. I'm very much on board with that because I am a football player, and things can be distracting. We have 53 people that we have to make sure aren't distracted, because we only have 16 turns to do it, so every one matters so much.
Andrew HawkinsHow you educate the people around you, what steps you take toward making it better, what sacrifices you make. The equation of life is simple: There's no gain without pain. For whatever reason, that's the way this world was designed in every facet. It's the same thing, there has to be a sacrifice.
Andrew Hawkins