Oregon’s Dan Lanning Calls For Respect And Unity After Tragic Killing Of Charlie Kirk
The Ducks head coach speaks on unity, politics, and the need to value human life
Dan Lanning has never been the one to shy away from a question, or share his feelings on the current state of this country. Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week, the conversation has brought a number of sincere answers on the overall effect this has had on people.
Following the win over Northwestern on Saturday, Dan Lanning was asked about the current climate in this country, which led to a heartfelt answer that might have caught some folks off-guard.
But, if you know Lanning, he isn't the one who will run away from trying to tackle issues, or at least use his voice for what he believes is right.
Dan Lanning Doesn’t Back Down From Comments On Charlie Kirk
Speaking on FS1's Barstool show on Monday morning, the Oregon head coach was asked about his comments made at Northwestern, and once again provided an answer that hits us all to the core.
"I've spoken on stuff like this before, it probably just hasn't garnered the attention before," Lanning noted. "After the Utah game in 2022 we're dealing with school shootings in the world, it just makes me sick. I feel like when you have an opportunity to have a voice, shame on you if you don't use it. I do think there is a lot people can learn from our locker room.
"So, whether it's an assassination attempt, school shooting, we've got a problem just respecting the human life in this world. It bothers me, right. Especially as a guy with three young kids. It's just a little nerve wracking that we don't respect human life, regardless of who it is, it's wrong. Murder is wrong in every way and I think when you get a chance to speak on it, you need to."
Lanning Doesn’t Have To Talk Politics To Send A Message In Honor Of Charlie Kirk, Others
While he's not trying to get himself involved in the current political conversations that surround events like the one with Charlie Kirk, the Ducks coach made it clear that we have a problem in this country right now.
"The political climate, I'm not gonna hop into politics. But we don't work together, so we're not solving a lot of problems," Lanning noted. "It'd be great if we started to work together and really start to solve some problems."
There are plenty of folks around college campuses that are strong in their beliefs, and might not feel it's their place to speak out about events like what transpired last week in Utah. But, that doesn't mean we need to be attacking someone for their courage to speak up on topics like the one currently being had across this country.
Obviously, it was going to be a no-win situation for Dan Lanning. Folks were either going to be upset that he spoke out regarding Oregon fan Charlie Kirk being killed, or people were going to be mad that he did not say enough.
Clearly, you can't win under these circumstances. But, that's not going to stop Dan Lanning from making it clear that at the end of the day, we need to respect the opinions of one another.
"Some people were gonna be upset because I didn’t say enough, and some people were gonna be upset if I said anything at all. It shouldn’t be a divisive concept, right. ‘Hey, let’s care about each other', but for whatever reason it is. I hope we can grow as a nation because we need to."