"I would look up to you, as a father of young girl I appreciate you" - Former NFL player Nate Burleson's message to Venus Williams
Former NFL player and CBS Morning co-host Nate Burleson recently hailed Venus Williams for fighting for gender equality over the course of her career.
Williams made an appearance on CBS Morning, where she spoke about gender pay gap in tennis and how she had to fight to reduce that disparity.
In response, Burleson told Williams that as the father of a young girl, he appreciated her for her efforts.
"I have to say this as an NFL player, as a former NFL player, I would look up to you because you stood for so much, so much more than your sport, you transcended tennis. And now as a father of a young girl, I want to say I appreciate you because you are one of the women that I point to and tell her 'you can accomplish anything, ot just what people tell you you can do'," he said.
Burleson then asked Williams how men could get involved in the fight for equality. The American did not address the question directly, but instead shed more light on her partnership with the nonprofit organization, Girls Inc.
"Absolutely and I am so excited to partner with Girls Inc., a national organization that helps girls be bold and strong, and girls need to know they have the same opportunities and it's just so important that this happens. So, I'm very excited and I forgot part of the question now," said Venus Williams
However, she later pointed out that men have an equally important role to play.
"Men are the fathers, men are the husbands, they're the brothers. Men are an integral part of the solution and at this moment there are definitely more men in power than women. So it's important that men are a part of this solution, a part of this conversation and actually, taking a role in leading this. It's so important and I'm glad that you asked that," she added.
Venus Williams played an important role in ensuring men and women received equal pay at Grand Slams
More than a decade ago, Venus Williams penned an essay criticizing Wimbledon for not offering equal pay to its men's and women's champions. In the essay, Williams accused the All England Club of diminishing the achievements of female athletes.
A year later, Wimbledon announced that the men's and women's champions would be paid the same amount. Venus Williams and Roger Federer ended up winning the singles titles, earning $1.4 million.