His voice cracking at times, an emotional Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck began his news conference following Thursday night’s season opener against Buffalo by addressing the mass shooting that killed two children and injured 18 at Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday.
“We’ve been through a demonic tragedy over the past few days, and that’s felt by every single person in our city, in our state,” Fleck said following the Gophers’ 23-10 victory at Huntington Bank Stadium. “I’m a husband and a father first. So are our coaches, our players, our sons. And I think I speak for everyone, and we say that our thoughts, our hearts, our prayers, are with every single family that is going through an unthinkable, horrific tragedy. It’s unimaginable.”
Emphasizing that “there are way more important things than football,” Fleck said that he discussed the shootings with his team.
“We said that we’re playing for so many more people than just our locker room and our fans,” Fleck said. “We’re playing to give hope to people for maybe a minute.”
Fleck developed his “Row The Boat” mantra as a way to deal with the death of his son, Colt, who passed away shortly after birth in 2011.
“Row The Boat is about putting your oar back in the water and rowing,” he said. “And that’s what this community and the state has always been about, and that’s why I’ve fallen in love, and Heather has fallen in love with this community and this state. It’s unthinkable to know what those families are going through.”
Toward the end of his statement, Fleck showed frustration over how often mass shootings happen.
“It’s unthinkable, and there’s a lot that has to be done,” he said. “I’m not a politician, nor do I act as one, but there’s a lot of things that need to happen and should happen, and we need to hold people accountable to make sure that happens. These are our kids.”
