Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is back in the news again these days and it has nothing to do with football. It has to do with former Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills going on social media to attack his former employer, something he seems to be making a habit out of. While I commend all of the work Kenny Stills does in the community, whether it was Miami when he was with the Dolphins or now in Houston as a member of the Texans, he is dead wrong in his attack of the Dolphins owner. As Mr. Ross continues to do good despite what Kenny Stills says.
Kenny Stills isn’t helping the cause or the message he is trying to spread when he attacks Stephen Ross. In fact, it shows Kenny Stills to be clueless, confused, and a hypocrite on the matter.
Before we get into what Kenny Stills said this past week we have to go back a year ago to 2019. Prior to Stills being traded to Houston, he went on social media and criticized his employer at the time, Mr. Ross, for giving money to President Trump’s re-election campaign by holding a fundraiser for the President. Which was 100% out of line for Stills to do.
Look this isn’t a Republican or Democrat thing, a conservative or liberal thing, and this isn’t about if you support Trump or not. Stills was out of line for bringing politics up because Mr. Ross as an American has a right to support any political party or candidate he wants without being publically shamed for his beliefs. It was a classic case of everything that is wrong in this country these days, that Person A is a Republican and Person B is a Democrat and well because they don’t vote the same way they can’t work together, can’t be friends, can’t even have a civil debate about the issues facing this country. Stills was wrong for bringing up Ross’s politics and using it to bring him bad press in 2019. I said it a year ago and I say it again now.
Fast forward a year to this past Friday and Kenny Stills is at it again taking shots at Mr. Ross over how Ross is spending money in regards to his nonprofit RISE. Ross announced on Friday he is donating $13 million over 4-years to RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality) to combat racism. Yes, Mr. Ross is the founder of RISE and he is putting his own money up and investing in his nonprofit to help continue to combat social injustice and discrimination. For those that do not know what RISE is and the work they do, I suggest you do a quick google search or visit the RISE website to further educate yourself on this nonprofit that has been doing a lot of good in the world since 2015. RISE is a national nonprofit that since 2015 has been educating and empowering the sports community to eliminate discrimination.
On the surface how can anyone be upset with that, it’s Mr. Ross giving up $13 million of his own money to help combat racism in sports and in society? Well, in walks Kenny Stills to insert foot into mouth.
Just like Stills was 100% dead wrong in 2019 he is even more wrong now in 2020 on this matter. Once word spread on Friday of the financial donation Ross was making to RISE, Kenny Stills ran to Twitter to vocalize his objection to this stating that the motives of Ross weren’t pure and were strictly financial. Claiming he was only doing it for a tax write off.
Donation to his non profit = Tax write off https://t.co/mUk6Uc9J6n
— Kenny Stills (@KSTiLLS) June 27, 2020
Wait? What? Uh? Totally confused by the stance Kenny Stills has taken here. Would you rather Ross just kept the money in his pocket and collected the interest? Would you rather Ross went and spent the money on something stupid like a bigger yacht or another home? Would you rather Ross give the money to the Trump campaign to help his re-election (we know how you feel about that)? What would you rather have had Ross do with this money? Honestly, I have a feeling no matter what Ross did you would have been upset and criticized him for it.
I have one simple question for Kenny Stills as well… How much money are you donating?
Look, do I agree with Mr. Ross on his politics….NO! Am I going to vote for the same person in November as Mr. Ross….NO! But that doesn’t cloud my judgment of the good work Mr. Ross is doing with RISE. And that won’t get me to knock him for giving $13 million to help further a great cause.
You see what Kenny Stills needs to understand is that you don’t have to have the same political leanings as Stephen Ross to acknowledge the money, time, and work he has invested into making RISE successful. And Stills has no basis to think this financial donation Ross has made to RISE is not pure in any way and that there is some evil alternative motive in play here.
And on a larger scale, Kenny Stills come off looking like a total jackass in that Stephen Ross is the ONLY owner in the NFL who has hired a minority GM and Head Coach. So, if you want to knock an owner about anything maybe start with the 31 other owners. Not to mention, and this one is a doozy, you know what NFL owner has donated the most money to Donald Trump the past 3 years….Robert McNair and the McNair Family. The owner of Still’s current team the Houston Texans. (Robert McNair died in November of 2018 but up until his death and still, to this day he was and is the largest donor of all sports team owners across all professional sports to the Trump campaign and his family has continued to donate since his death.)
From an October 2017 article: “The largest individual contribution from league owners came from Houston Texans’ Robert McNair, who donated a whopping $3.9 million to the campaign. Donors affiliated with the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams gave the campaign about $1 million each.”
So before Kenny Stills throws any stones at Mr. Ross he better look in that glass house he is living in down in Houston and worry about what the family that owns the Houston Texans is doing first. Kenny Stills is easily outraged by every move Stephen Ross makes and is not afraid to publically try and shame him. But what Stills is doing is only showing himself to be uneducated on some of these matters and making himself look foolish.
I do applaud the work Kenny Stills does in the community as he gives up a lot of his free time to help communities that need it. He did so as a member of the Dolphins and continues to do so in Houston now as a player with the Texans. And Stills often does it without any fanfare. So I do tip my cap to Kenny on this and hope he continues to do that good work.
With that said though I have some advice to Kenny Stills, SHUT UP! Seriously SHUT UP when it comes to how Mr. Ross spends his money and the work he is doing to combat racism and promote equality. Yes, Mr. Ross will get a tax break, SO WHAT! $13 million is $13 million at the end of the day and that money will do a lot of good in the world and with RISE. And Stephen Ross who just turned 80 last month probably really doesn’t care about tax breaks at this stage in his life nor will it make a dent in his bottom line with the amount of money he has.
I agree that it is confusing why Stills would criticize Ross for his recent contributions. I’m not sure what Stills point is. But does it matter? This is a #3 or #4 receiver on some out of division team. Who cares?
But you are wrong on the general point: Kenny Stills, or any American, has a right to criticize political contributions. The right to free speech doesn’t end at billionaires
Who did you vote for ? Want to help black people take back the money he gave trump. Denounce his running of our country!