It's been a year since Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya used his platform to call for change immediately after scoring a goal during a match against D.C. United.
After netting in the third minute of the contest, which took place in the days following two separate mass shootings in the United States in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Bedoya ran to a field mic after scoring and shouted: "Hey Congress, do something now, end gun violence."
Bedoya joined Extratime's David Gass and Charlie Davies on Monday, discussing his continuing advocacy to try and end gun violence and why it's an issue that resonates with him so much personally. Bedoya said that even before his high-profile moment last summer, he was already working with organizations like Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action, and participating in different initiatives locally in Philadelphia and across the country.
"It really is [an epideimic], Bedoya said. "Going abroad and being in Europe, America is almost like a laughingstock. It's crazy to believe the gun violence issues that we have in our country. What happened that weekend in El Paso and Dayton as well, that was on the back of my mind the whole weekend there before that game and caused me to say what I said in that statement. I think it's just something, it was non-partisan, it was something that I think as a human being you just feel. How many more times do we have to deal with things like this?"
Watch the full Extratime segment with Bedoya below.
