Kaepernick Redux

My Sunday column a few weeks ago discussed Colin Kaepernick, and the NFL's informal blacklist of him for kneeling during the national anthem and making comments critical of our government and police -- and the history of both.

19August update:

This new story shows NY City cops showing support for Kaepernick, and a second white football player participating  in  an anthem kneeling -- by keeping his right hand on the shoulder of a kneeling black teammate.

Meanwhile, Mike Florio reports the NAACP in Atlanta will boycott the NFL:

“There will be no football in the state of Georgia if Colin Kaepernick is not on a training camp roster and given an opportunity to pursue his career,” said Gerald Griggs of the Atlanta NAACP at a Friday press conference, via fox5atlanta.com. “This is not a simple request. This is a statement. This is a demand.”

“Kaepernick engaged in a silent, non-violent protest,” says Senior Pastor Deblaire Snell of the First SDA Church in Huntsville, Alabama. “He did this to raise awareness to the number of brown and black individuals that have been beaten and killed at the hands of law enforcement across this country. Since the end of last season, as a result of this protest, Colin Kaepernick has been unable to find employment in the NFL. I find that strange, seeing that the NFL has employed individuals that have been convicted of sexual assault, domestic violence, cruelty to animals, along with driving while under the influence. A number of NFL owners have come out and stated the reason they cannot employ him is because of a fear of a backlash from sponsors or a certain segment of their fan base. And it’s interesting that they’ve capitulated thus far to a certain segment of the fan base while fearing no backlash from the African-American community. . . .

“My belief is simply this. If Colin Kaepernick was willing to take a stand for those of us who are non-celebrities that would have to interact with law enforcement on a day-to-day basis, if he’s willing to take a knee for us, certainly we ought to take a stand, and stand with him.”

Over the balance of the video, various others explain that there will be a refusal to watch the NFL, a refusal to purchase NFL merchandise, and a refusal to participate in fantasy football.

“We want you to know this protest is not anti-flag, because people of color love the Stars and Stripes,” says Dr. Leslie N. Pollard, president of Oakwood University. “This protest is not anti-American, because people of color have loved this country, even when this country has not loved us back. And this protest is not anti-veteran, because we support those who have made sacrifices so that our liberties have been secured. This protest is to ensure the rights of all Americans regardless of color and creed to be heard.”

previous update:
I felt, as others do, that Kaepernick was a sufficiently good quarterback that he should have been hired this offseason well before quite a few QB's that teams hired or retained.  Without rearguing that, this post will note additional developments and contain links to some stories on those.  This week, those include a couple of other prominent players who failed to stand for the national anthem before preseason games recently.  Saturday, star running-back Marshawn Lynch sat before his first game as a Raider.  Sunday, Seattle Seahawks' defensive end Michael Bennett, some of whose comments appear below, did the same.  

Seahawks' head coach Pete Carrol didn't even realize until after the game that Bennett had sat during the anthem.  A Seahawks' official said he was fine with Bennett's action "as long as Michael is preaching love and not hate."  On Saturday, Lynch, Bennett’s former Seahawks teammate, sat on Oakland’s bench eating a banana during the anthem.

Bennett chose not to stand during the national anthem prior to the Seattle Seahawks preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He explained why to Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Schultz, and this is a condensed version of his words:

I’ve been thinking about sitting during the national anthem, especially after everything that’s been happening the last couple weeks. It’s just been so crazy right now, and I felt like the conversation wasn’t over.  I know it offends a lot of people, that’s why I kept it straightforward. I love America, I love hot dogs, I love everything about it.

I thought about it right up to the beginning of the game, and finally decided not to stand because it just felt right.

Everybody’s supportive as usual, because people know I genuinely care about people and care about the way that the world is.

Not a lot of people are willing to stand up and say what they believe in. [N]ot everybody is willing to say that they hate injustice. It’s kind of one of those things where you’ll be ridiculed if you bring something like that up in any place, so it’s hard to do.  I think I’m just a regular human being that’s wiling to be vulnerable in that way.

I really had to think about what I was doing. It was one of those things like, ‘Yeah, you’re really doing it. You’re really putting yourself out there to be attacked. You’re really stepping out. Are you ready for what’s going to happen? Are you ready for what people are going to say?’

So far, everything’s been positive.

Going forward, I want to continuously just push the message of equality.

My goal, my hope, is more action. Say less, do more.

(Twitter/@DennisTFP)

I think I’m at the point where spiritually, this is what you do. You dedicate your life to helping make change and using your platform to do it. You continuously have to be on that path to keep going, challenging yourself to do it. I think I’m inspired to keep doing more, even with all the hate going on. I’m inspired to keep trying to make a change.

I know some people won’t like it, but that doesn’t bother me. It’s a part of life, I think. Everybody’s going to attack you. If you’re in the game, you’re being attacked. I think being a sports star, you need to learn about fans, learn about people. The ups and downs of people, their beliefs – people feel one way one day and then change the next day. Sticking to who you are is, I think, the most important thing.

For me, I think wanting to make a difference started as a kid. I was always helping around, help doing things. I was on my grandpa’s farm, just doing stuff for the community. I got it from my parents. I think growing up reading about Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi and all these people, it really helped me cultivate what to do with my platform.

I always looked up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, John Carlos. All these guys do so much.

Now I look at Colin Kaepernick and all these people who do so much in the community and raising the bar of what we can do as athletes and what we can do as people. Do we forget our story and our journey and recreate who we are? Or do we connect our story to where we are now to be able to give other kids opportunities?

People want to keep you on the field. Everyone cares about what you do on the field and not what you’re doing as a man or a father or a person. Every question is about sports and sometimes it can get annoying because you can kind of lose your identity within sports.

When you get in the position on a platform where you get a chance to give back and create opportunities for others, that’s where I want my legacy to be. Over the last four or five years, my story has been shared more than in the past. I want to create opportunities for others. I want to raise the bar about what we can do as athletes and people. I think that’s where I want my legacy to be.

People are inspired by each other and want to help each other, and I think that’s the message that I really want to speak to clearly. It’s about how do we connect with each other and remember that we’re all people, and we all want to be a part of this great thing we call life, and this great thing we call love.