"I Can't Breathe" protest message spreads to NFL

More professional athletes were wearing "I Can't Breathe" messages Sunday in protest of a grand jury ruling not to indict an officer in the death of a New York man.

Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose wore the message on his T-shirt during warmups before Saturday night's home game.

Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush and Cleveland Browns cornerback Johnson Bademosi warmed up in shirts with the message before NFL games Sunday. St. Louis Rams offensive lineman Davin Joseph wore the message on his cleats.

"Honestly, I've always been the quiet kid. I've always been the one who's reserved, to kind of sit back and not really get into politics and things like that," said Bush, whose mother has been a police officer for about 20 years. "But I don't know why I just felt some kind of ... I guess the situation just touched me.

"It's kind of resonated with me. Not because I've been through a similar situation or because I've seen anybody go through it. I just really felt terrible about what was going on these past couple of weeks."

Lions coach Jim Caldwell supported Bush's action.

"I grew up in the '60s, where everybody was socially conscious," Caldwell said. "I believe in it. I'd be a hypocrite if I stood up here and told you any differently, because more than likely, some of those protests that Dr. (Martin Luther) King and some of the others that took a part in non-violent protests, is the reason why I'm standing here in front of you today."

Bademosi said there were players and coaches on his team who weren't even aware what "I Can't Breathe" meant. He called the Garner case "a ridiculous situation."

"It's not an us-against-them thing," Bademosi said. "It's about us standing in solidarity with those of us who know what's going on."

"I feel like we should support what we feel is right," said Joseph, who intended to wear the cleats during the game but had to change because of the condition of the slick turf at the Redskins' stadium. "We should always have an opinion of sticking up for people who don't have a voice."

The slogan refers to Eric Garner, who died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold while he was being arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. A grand jury decided Wednesday it would not indict the officer. A video of the arrest showed Garner gasping, "I can't breathe."

The words have become a rallying cry for protests against police violence across the nation.

Officers have said the outcry over the grand jury decision has left them feeling betrayed and demonized by everyone from the president and the mayor of New York City to throngs of protesters who scream at them on the street.

"Police officers feel like they are being thrown under the bus," said Patrick Lynch, president of the NYPD police union.

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton disagreed with Lynch during an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." Lynch had in particular singled out New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio's remarks that he and his wife, Chirlane, have had to have painful conversations with their teenage son Dante about his own interactions with police.

"This mayor, my mayor, Bill DeBlasio is probably one of the best I've ever worked with," Bratton said. "This is a mayor that has been very, very supportive of equipping the police to deal with many of the issues that this city is facing. He's a progressive. He certainly wants police to police constitutionally, compassionately, respectfully, which is why he's hired me because we are both of a shared mind on that issue."

He said that he has "great respect" for Patrick Lynch, the head of the union, but said the two "have a very strong difference of opinion on that comment."

The gesture also follows St. Louis Rams players reacting to a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury declining to return an indictment in the death of Michael Brown by holding up their arms in the now-familiar "hands up, don't shoot" protest position as they walked onto the field. The St. Louis Police Officers Association demanded an apology for that action.

Later, there was a dispute over whether the Rams apologized on behalf of their players, who were not punished by either the NFL nor the team after the incident.

Kevin Demoff, the executive vice president of football operations for the Rams, denied in an email to the Associated Press that he'd apologized.

"I expressed regret for any perceived disrespect of law enforcement," Demoff said. "Our players' goal was to show support for positive change in our community. I do believe that supporting our players' First Amendment rights and supporting local law enforcement are not mutually exclusive."