Three-Time Super Bowl Champion Running For Local School Board

Eleven-year NFL veteran and three-time Super Bowl champion Matt Light announced that he’s running for a seat on the Foxborough, Massachusetts, school board after seeing what his children have gone through in the public school system. 

Light, who doesn’t align himself with a party, took major issue with the mandatory mask-wearing for children. While Foxborough schools are no longer requiring children to wear masks, Light is looking forward, for when the next thing pops up.

“I would be talking to friends of mine in the Foxborough area, where we still live, where I played for a long time, and I would be telling my friends and other family members that have kids in the school system here that ‘This isn’t right what is happening,’” Light told Newsmax. “What our kids are going through as they go to public schools shouldn’t be happening. How is this possible?”

He calls his candidacy an opportunity to “give back” and share an unheard perspective.

“And you know it’s something that people tell me like, ‘hey you don’t have to worry about that anymore. It’s over,’” he said, according to NBC Boston. “But what happens the next time?… And I’ve never been an anti-masker. I’ve been an anti ‘tell me what to do and expect me to fall in line.’”

Light will be looking to unseat either chairman Robert Canfield or Brent Ruter, who defended mask-wearing for children at school throughout the pandemic, according to The Sun Chronicle. Light has four children, including three who are currently going through the Foxborough school system, with the annual town election being held on May 2. 

“There’s been a lack of leadership in this country because it’s been too easy to walk away from it,” Light said on Newsmax. “I’ve always told people, if you were the person selling tickets at Gillette Stadium when we were winning championship after championship, that’s the easiest job in the world. But when things get difficult, like we’ve seen over the last two years especially, we need our leaders to stand up and lead. That’s what we’ve lacked here. At least in Foxborough and so many other school systems across the country.”

In a guest column for The Foxboro Reporter, Light said that he’s most interested in working at the local level, where he can make the largest impact. 

“It became apparent that all of the greatest changes happen at the local level,” Light wrote. “The men and women who shaped our country with the freedoms we now enjoy were business owners, teachers, pastors, laborers and many others who got together to discuss the problems of the day and then put their solutions into action.”

“I actually really love the idea of working at the local level. I’m also a big fan of being part of a team and understanding my role — or as one guy used to tell me — how to ‘Do your job,’” Light added, referring to longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

In his interview with Newsmax, Light highlighted the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health of children around the country, telling Newsmax that his son has a heart condition, and that his concerns went largely unheard by the school system during the pandemic

“I want to say to everybody in Foxboro, and people throughout the country, that we cannot allow what’s happened over the last two years in this pandemic to be brushed under the rug,” Light said. “We have to hold ourselves accountable. There were too many things that happened during this pandemic that affected kids negatively, that put kids in the mental institutions, that led to suicide rates that skyrocketed. It’s too easy for our leaders — the people that were supposed to be fighting for our kids — that sat by and allowed the state to make these decisions. And gladly gave up the power at the local level so that they wouldn’t have to make a decision. That’s not leading.” 

“So, we need to make sure that we can learn from those mistakes, because there’s one thing that history has told us — we will definitely repeat these if we don’t have a real conversation,” Light continued. 

Light is a member of the New England Patriots Hall of Fame. He spent his entire 11-year career in New England, winning nine division championships, and going to five Super Bowls. 

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

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