--- description: The NFL will not punish St. Louis Rams players for their "hands up, don't shoot" gestures made during introductions before Sunday's game against the Oakland... title: NFL Won’t Discipline Rams Players for ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ Gesture image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0b91d7618712518/69876b828e06014543458e1c/rtr4g5hy.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NFL](/tag/nfl/) ## NFL Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NFL Won't Discipline Rams Players for 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Gesture by [Sports Illustrated / Christopher Woody and Molly Geary](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Sports Illustrated / Christopher Woody and Molly Geary Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 2, 2014 4:27 AM CUT  St. Louis Rams players put their hands up to show support for Michael Brown before a game against the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, on Nov. 30, 2014 St. Louis Rams players put their hands up to show support for Michael Brown before a game against the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, on Nov. 30, 2014USA Today Sports—Reuters by [Sports Illustrated / Christopher Woody and Molly Geary](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Sports Illustrated / Christopher Woody and Molly Geary Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 2, 2014 4:27 AM CUT The NFL will not punish St. Louis Rams players for their “hands up, don’t shoot” gestures made during introductions before Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders, [a league spokesman told CNN’s Rachel Nichols.](https://twitter.com/Rachel%5F%5FNichols/status/539449638815010816/photo/1 "undefined") “We respect and understand the concerns of all individuals who have expressed views on this tragic situation,” Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s vice president of communications, said in a statement. The St. Louis Police Officers Association had requested the NFL punish the players. The gestures, made by [Stedman Bailey](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/stedman-bailey "undefined"), [Tavon Austin](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/tavon-austin "undefined"), [Jared Cook](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/jared-cook "undefined"), [Chris Givens](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/chris-givens-0 "undefined") and [Kenny Britt](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/kenny-britt "undefined"), mirrored those made by protestors in Ferguson, Mo., and throughout the country and world after the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed, by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in August. St. Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch announced on Nov. 24 that a grand jury would not indict Wilson for the shooting. ### See Athletes Who Have Taken a Stand on Political Issues  African-American track team members Tommie Smith (C) and John Carlos (R) raised gloved Black Power fists as during the medal ceremony of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Both Smith and Carlos were suspended from the U.S. team, and both received death threats. "We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat," Carlos reportedly said at the time. Both are now in the Hall of Fame. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  In this image posted to Miami Heat basketball player LeBron James' Twitter account in 2012, Miami Heat players wear team hoodies to protest the killing of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman. (LeBron James via Twitter-- AP Photo) AP  Sweden's Moa Hjelmer sports rainbow nails at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow, Russia, to protest Russia's laws prohibiting gay "propaganda." (Martin Meissner-- AP) Martin Meissner—AP  Egyptian soccer player Ahmed Abdul Zaher shows a four-finger sign, widely known as a gesture of support for ousted Islamsist President Mohammed Morsi, after scoring a goal on November 10, 2013\. He was suspended from the team and from the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco after flashing the sign of support, and his team looked into trading him. (Desouki--AFP/Getty Images) Khaled Desouki—AFP/Getty Images  In 2010, the Phoenix Suns wore jerseys emblazoned with "Los Suns" on Cinco de Mayo, in response to an anti-immigration law recently passed in Arizona. (Christian Petersen--Getty Images) Christian Petersen—Getty Images  Los Angeles Clippers players wore their warmup jerseys inside out to protest racist remarks by team owner Donald Sterling on April 27, 2014, in Oakland, Calif. (Marcio Jose Sanchez--AP Photo) Marcio Jose Sanchez—AP  St. Louis Rams wide receiver Tavon Austin raised his arms in the "hands up, don't shoot" gesture to show support for Michael Brown, before a game against the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome. (Jeff Curry--USA TODAY Sports) Jeff Curry—USA Today Sports/Reuters  Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Dec. 8, 2014, in New York. Kathy Willens—AP The NFL’s statement comes [after a lengthy denunciation](http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/11/30/stl-police-officers-association-condemns-rams-display/19721979/?hootPostID=56e4d621f410c5ee1ef0c0b0696f34f8 "undefined") of the players’ action by the St. Louis Police Officers Association. SLPOA business manager Jeff Roorda called for discipline from the league and suggested that his organization would continue to pressure the league and its sponsors until it felt its grievances had been addressed. --- > “” --- Rams coach Jeff Fisher and a spokesman for the team said that they were not aware of the players’ plans before the game. Demonstrations before and after the announcement of the grand jury’s verdict led to clashes between protestors and police in Ferguson. The Rams, 5-7 and fourth in the NFC West, defeated the Raiders 52-0\. They travel to Washington on Dec. 7. [_This article originally appeared on SI.com_](http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/12/01/nfl-discipline-st-louis-rams-players-hands-dont-shoot "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3613211/rams-ferguson-nfl-gesture-fine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3613211/rams-ferguson-nfl-gesture-fine/"},"headline":"NFL Won't Discipline Rams Players for 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Gesture","datePublished":"2014-12-02T04:27:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:51.239Z","description":"The NFL will not punish St. Louis Rams players for their \"hands up, don't shoot\" gestures made during introductions before Sunday's game against the Oakland...","url":"https://time.com/3613211/rams-ferguson-nfl-gesture-fine/","keywords":["NFL","Football"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0b91d7618712518/69876b828e06014543458e1c/rtr4g5hy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sports Illustrated / Christopher Woody and Molly Geary"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0b91d7618712518/69876b828e06014543458e1c/rtr4g5hy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NFL: Oakland Raiders at St. Louis Rams","caption":"NFL: Oakland Raiders at St. Louis Rams","creditText":"USA Today Sports—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3613211/rams-ferguson-nfl-gesture-fine/","name":"NFL Won't Discipline Rams Players for 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' Gesture"}}]}] ```