Baylor Players Say Their Blackout Jerseys Are Not In Protest of Art Briles' Firing

Baylor's football team is wearing all black in their home game against TCU today—that much is certain. What has been kind of foggy this morning, however, is their rationale for wearing the black uniforms. Some have insinuated that it's in support of Art Briles—who was fired earlier this year after staying silent amidst multiple accusations of sexual assault among his players—and some have not. Let's parse out exactly what's going on.

We'll be rocking the black-black-black uniform combo to #SicTCU. pic.twitter.com/ehtJ1xMMA1
— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) November 4, 2016

The commotion all started with ESPN's Brett McMurphy tweeting about the team's motivation behind the "blackout," with a retweet of Baylor's wide receiver Chris Platt saying "This black out means more than just the uniforms to us. #truthdontlie":

Baylor wearing all-black uniforms vs. TCU to protest Art Briles' firing https://t.co/HuveqGxjP3
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) November 5, 2016

Baylor players coming to Briles defense is not entirely unheard of, as some have stood up for Briles in the past, and it seems that #truthdontlie is a pro-Briles hashtag, which insinuates that Briles was just the scapegoat. Baylor's offensive lineman Mo Porter had also tweeted along similar lines on Friday night, adding the hashtag #CAB, which stands for "Coach Art Briles":

This is more than a regular game this black out means something to us!!! #CAB #truthdontlie #BlackoutTCU
— PAPA Lit (@_bigmo__) November 5, 2016

Sure, you could argue that the message is ambiguous enough to pass off as innocuous, but it just feels a little deep into the season (and maybe into PR training) for shit like this to happen.

In either event, Platt came out to say that the blackout jerseys had nothing to do with Briles, but rather the historied rivalry with TCU:

The Truth pic.twitter.com/je3qmueev1
— chris platt (@chrisplatt14) November 5, 2016

McMurphy, being a good-boy reporter decided to lay out the fair truth, and let the facts speak for themselves.

Baylor WR Chris Platt says all-black uniforms are because Bears playing rival TCU & not to protest Art Briles' firing https://t.co/pHozauc4sF
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) November 5, 2016

But the whole thing—pro-Briles hashtags included—had a lot of people looking sideways at the players' doubling back, and had this to say:

Baylor claiming blackout isn't about Briles now. pic.twitter.com/5qFmCjJgEC
— Kyle Crabbs (@NDTScouting) November 5, 2016

'K indeed.

UPDATE:

Meanwhile, being sold outside the Baylor game:

#CAB t-shirts selling at tailgate outside McLane Stadium ahead of Baylor-TCU $20 short $25 long sleeve pic.twitter.com/fleGKpykqM
— Tony Adame (@t_adame) November 5, 2016

The line for #CAB shirts outside McLane Stadium. pic.twitter.com/mmbLG7Qw2f
— Ryan Osborne (@RyanOsborneFWST) November 5, 2016

And just when you thought things couldn't get any more Baylor:

A Waco police officer just kicked out a #TCU fan for taking a picture of the #CAB shirts. This is another cover up
— Alex Apple (@AlexApple_) November 5, 2016