Browns' Andrew Hawkins defends why he wore 'Justice for Tamir Rice' T-shirt

Before Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins donned a T-shirt reading 'Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford.'

Rice was a 12-year-old boy shot dead by a Cleveland police officer in November, and Hawkins protested his killing by sporting the shirt in the warmups. 

In a statement Sunday, Cleveland Police Union President Jeff Follmer denounced the action as "pathetic," dismissing Hawkins as merely an athlete that should "stick to football."

Hawkins defended his choice to wear the shirt Monday. 

"My wearing of the T-shirt wasn't a stance against every police officer or every police department," Hawkins told Adam Ferrise of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "My wearing of the T-shirt was a stance against wrong individuals doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason to innocent people."

The Browns organization said they respected Hawkins' right to comment on an important cause.

"If I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward and I couldn't live with that," Hawkins said.

Hawkins also noted that are some good police officers, citing their bravery and that his stand was against police profiling and injustice. 

Although the Cleveland Police demanded an apology from the Browns, they won't be getting one from Hawkins. 

"A call for justice shouldn't warrant an apology," Hawkins said.