NFL star wears David Dorn's name on helmet in tribute to slain former police chief

Tight end Tyler Eifert of the Jacksonville Jaguars chose to remember former St. Louis police Captain David Dorn by printing his name on his helmet. Eifert's quiet statement memorializes the retired, black law enforcement chief, who was murdered during looting in June in St. Louis.

Eifert is "a veteran player who has done a very good job," according to Head Coach Doug Marrone. In particular, "he's a really good route-runner with a good route tree," he also started this season as the first where "he hasn't had to worry about injury," so both he and his head coach are highly optimistic.

Making political statements on uniforms and helmets has been officialized by the NFL. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio described where the regulations say these should be made "it's a fairly thick white strip, where multiple organizations currently print the names of their teams," and "the names of specific persons will be easy to see when TV cameras capture close-up images of players on the field."

So far, players have mostly used this prominent strip to support the same Black Lives Matter protests that saw David Dorn murdered. Dorn's widow, who spoke at the Republican National Convention, grieved the death of her life partner and previously said that "violence and destruction are not legitimate forms of protest. They do not safeguard black lives. They only destroy them."

David Dorn's murder was livestreamed to Facebook and his body left in the street after he had attempted to stop the looting at Lee's Pawn Shop in the wake of George Floyd's death. Police Commissioner John Hayden said, "David Dorn was exercising law enforcement training that he learned here (in St Louis)."

US conservatives are determined not to forget Dorn. They raised over $200,000 in one night for his family; meanwhile, Senator Josh Hawley has recently introduced the "David Dorn Back the Blue Act."

Hawley said that "police departments across the country are under siege—underfunded, facing increased retirements, and struggling to make new hires, but as violence and rioting sweeps across American cities big and small, our courageous law enforcement officers are more vital now than ever. Democratic politicians are bending to radical activists who want to defund the police. We should do just the opposite. Our officers deserve a raise, not defunding. They deserve our unqualified support. And this bill would give it to them."