Tom Lyons' Reflections on Civil Rights

I have been fortunate, blessed, to have been a professional in two very different jobs, football (Denver Broncos 1971-1977) and medicine (MD, OB/Gyn 1980-2017). Not many similarities occur in those two professions, but one is striking. There is no issue concerning people's backgrounds. In medicine, care is distributed as needed, and skill is used by practitioners of all backgrounds on patients of all backgrounds. Patient care and helping people heal is the only metric. In football, no one cares what color you are, only what skills you bring to the team and if you can help the team win. I'm thankful that my folks brought me up feeling that the only measure of a person was their character, not their color. My belief is until everyone understands that, we will continue to have inappropriate division and needless prejudices that separate us. I am not pro-woke, and I do not think rights are given. Rights are earned through respect for others. I learned this lesson in football, and the lesson was reinforced in my medical career. We need to get together. That is the only way for the team to be successful.

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