'I Hope I Don't Get Killed For Being Black Today': Ohio State Recruit Makes Strong Statement With His T-Shirt

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Tyreke Smith from Cleveland Heights decided to take advantage of last Saturday's one-day camp for football recruits at Ohio State to send a message.

Smith, a four-star defensive end, didn't necessarily need to send a message regarding his football abilities, as he is highly sought after by top-tier college football programs nationwide. According to the Eleven Warriors website, SEC programs like Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU are trying to woo him as well as Big Ten teams such as Penn State and the Buckeyes' archrival, Michigan.

Instead, Smith wanted to send a message regarding racial profiling and deadly violence against African-Americans. Emblazoned on the T-shirt he wore were the words, “I hope I don't get killed for being black today.”

Smith told Eleven Warriors that he wanted to use his position as a star athlete to make a positive change.

“I decided to wear the shirt because I wanted to bring attention to the epidemic of blacks being killed at an alarming rate,” Smith said. “What we would like to do is have people talk about these issues to reduce the murder rate of African-Americans.”

Smith's brother Malik created the shirt, and it is available for purchase via direct message on his twitter account @ItzYah_Boy23.

With around 40 scholarship offers, Smith hasn't nailed down where he'll be playing next year, but there's no doubt we'll hear more from this wise 17-year-old.

“We need to come together as a unit and stop coming after our own people,” Malik said. “We have to work together.”

Photo by Rick Uldricks, Patch