On the eve of Garfield High School's first football game in 2017, the team's head coach is talking football, off-the-field controversy, and why he wanted to play Archbishop Murphy. Joey Thomas is now in his second year with the Bulldogs. In his first season as head coach, the team went 8-2. It was their best record in years. Garfield also made national headlines in 2016 after becoming one of the first high schools in the country to take part in national anthem protests that began in the NFL, to draw attention to racial injustice. "It was just about hearing the voices of our student athletes and doing what they felt was right in their hearts and having a plan," said Thomas. "It's about equality on multiple fronts. You know, police brutality played a part in it, but also equal opportunities in education."

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