HOUSTON - Most of the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons players, coaches and front office staff have declined to comment on politics or activism down here at the Super Bowl.

Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell deflected political questions during his Super Bowl press conference on Wednesday.

But Lions cornerback Johnson Bademosi, safety Glover Quin and receiver Anquan Boldin are here in Houston to tackle those issues head on and raise awareness.

Bademosi, Quin and Boldin are taking part in The Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), which is hosting their second annual Super Bowl Town Hall, "From Protest to Progress: The Power of Sports to Improve Race Relations" on Friday.

The program will include a two-part panel discussion, reviewing lessons learned from the activist athlete and examining solution-oriented next steps for the sports industry to drive social change.

"All guys who are pretty aware of what's going on in their community, in this country and care about it and have something to say," Bademosi told local reporters on Radio Row Thursday on him, Quin and Boldin being involved.

"Not just have something to say, but are doing things through a foundation or their personal lives to affect change."

Bademosi is very involved in social issues. He went to Washington D.C. last month to take part in the Women's March, and has also been vocal about race issues.

The son of Nigerian immigrants, he also has strong opinions on immigration reform policy.

"People in this country, who might not be citizens, but are doing amazing things, to see them go to another country and not come back just because of something going on within politics, is unfortunate," he said.

"In so many ways, I see what's going on and how it affects people. If you believe it might not affect you, you need to pay more attention."

Bademosi is also a member of a nonprofit group called American Football Without Barriers, which teaches the game to children and adults all over the world.

He was in Cairo, Egypt, with the organization last year, and plans to be part of an NFL contingent that heads to Finland later this month to grow the game there.

"I'm a citizen of this country and I'm a member of my community, and things that happen and decisions that are made, whether it's an executive order here, or decision that aren't made by the president, but other people in congress, things that happen in the community, whether it's with police, or whatever, it affects me and I see it happening," he said.

"So I'd be remiss to ignore that. I feel like I have to speak on that. I feel like that's part of my purpose."