Great isn't it? Are you aware that the "E" in ESPN is for Entertainment? So having discussions about current events is very much a part of who they are and sports can be progressive in that regard. It's funny because just about everyone has a personal story from their younger years about a coach who was "old school" and "old-fashioned" and sometimes, dangerously out of touch (that's the kind that didn't allow water breaks until someone vomits from heat stroke or something). Or had prejudices that were known but never openly discussed. ESPN made its mark from the NCAA basketball tourney and landing Dick VItale. Given the demographics of basketball, they would have had to BE a rock to not recognize some of the issues that athletes faced then and now.
Fox may tell athletes to shut up and play ball, but Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Arthur Ashe, Serena Williams, Tommie Smith and John Carlos let us know they were here and had something to say, each in their own way. I haven't even listed others, like Jackie Robinson or Ali or the Syracuse Eight who paid the price for their courage and activism through punitive actions and abuse. Or talked about the female activists for gender issues or gay rights and so on.
One of the stories you can share with your son that is a testimony to courage and doing the right thing even when it is not easy is the tale of Peter Norman. Not Greg Norman, the golfer, but Peter Norman. Ever heard of him? He won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He was on the podium when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their gloved fists in protest. He did not raise his fist, but he wore a badge for the Olympic Project for Human Rights. It made his stance clear. Returning to his home in Australia, he was a pariah. Although he was not stripped of his medal, he was never allowed to represent Australia again despite running the fastest times and qualifying over and over again, was not recognized in 2000 when the Olympics came to Sydney and when he died in 2006, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral. They had kept in touch for almost 40 years. It wasn't until 2012 that the Australian government apologized for its treatment of a talented hardworking man who stood up and stood with fellow men in support of what was right.
If I recall, you mentioned that your son likes track and field. So do I. It's history is littered with amazing achievements, cheating scandals, what-might-have-been opportunities, and in the case of second place Peter Norman: someone who our President would call a loser but was a winner all along.