Thierry Henry Kneels for First 8 Minutes, 46 Seconds of Impact vs. Revolution
July 10, 2020
Montreal Impact manager Thierry Henry honored the memory of George Floyd and provided a powerful gesture for the Black Lives Matter movement when he knelt for the first eight minutes and 46 seconds of Thursday's contest against the New England Revolution.
Henry was wearing a shirt with "Black Lives Matter" across the front while kneeling.
As Ian Quillen of MLS's official website pointed out, the time period is of particular importance because it is how long prosecutors originally said former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck as the latter pleaded for his life and said he could not breathe.
Floyd's death sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and racism.
ESPN noted Henry is no stranger to using his platform to publicly fight racism. The 1998 FIFA World Cup winner with France helped launch the Stand Up Speak Up campaign in 2005 and has supported the Show Racism the Red Card charity.
Henry's decision to take a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds comes after other MLS players have shown their support for the Black Lives Matter movement upon the league's restart at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Steven Goff of the Washington Post noted the 22 starters all took a knee at the center circle prior to Orlando City's victory over Inter Miami on Wednesday.
What's more, Black players from around the league joined both teams for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor Floyd before the game:
On Thursday, Philadelphia Union players wore the names of Black victims who died from police brutality on the backs of their jerseys against New York City FC:
Alicia Lee of CNN noted the jerseys had the last names of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice, Philando Castille and Sandra Bland, among others. Goalkeeper Andre Blake's jersey had the last name of George Floyd.
The bottom of the jerseys also had the message "One name too many."