Tom GantertNew York, NY – Two former National Football League (NFL) players who claim they’ve been blackballed by every team in the league for taking a knee during the National Anthem expressed outrage that their images were used in a social justice video produced by the league.
Eric Reid, who played with quarterback Colin Kaepernick on the San Francisco 49ers and also took a knee, posted a series of angry tweets and called the NFL’s efforts at social justice “disingenuous.”
Both Reid and Kaepernick were featured in a video that every team in the league played for viewers during the games on Sept. 13.
“What the @NFL is doing is half-hearted at best,” Reid tweeted. “@nflcommish has gotten comfortable saying he ‘was wrong’ as if his mere acknowledgement reconciles his admitted wrongdoing. He hasn’t even called Colin to apologize, let alone reconcile, proving this is only PR for the current business climate.”
“As such, Roger Goodell uses video of Colin courageously kneeling to legitimize their disingenuous PR while simultaneously perpetuating systemic oppression, that the video he’s using fights against, by continuing to rob Colin of his career. It’s diabolical,” said Reid, who has also been sidelined since he was released by the Carolina Panthers in March.
2/2 business climate. As such, Roger Goodell uses video of Colin courageously kneeling to legitimize their disingenuous PR while simultaneously perpetuating systemic oppression, that the video he’s using fights against, by continuing to rob Colin of his career. It’s diabolical.
— Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) September 14, 2020
Kaepernick, who remains at odds with the NFL management, has claimed defensive back Reid was also blackballed by all the teams for kneeling and said that proved the league’s promises regarding social justice demonstrations were hollow.
“While the NFL runs propaganda about how they care about Black Life, they are still actively blackballing Eric Reid (@E_Reid35) for fighting for the Black community,” Kaepernick tweeted on Sunday. “Eric set 2 franchise records last year, and is one of the best defensive players in the league.”
On Sunday, seven teams remained in the locker rooms during the playing of the National Anthem, ESPN reported.
Additionally, many NFL players and some coaches kneeled, sat on the bench, or raised their fists while the National Anthem played before the start of the games.
Kaepernick, 32, hasn’t played since the 2016 season when he first took a knee during the National Anthem, ESPN reported.
In his last two years in the NFL, Kaepernick had a 3-16 record as a starting quarterback.
The former professional football player, who was once the league’s second-highest-paid quarterback, claimed when he started kneeling during the National Anthem that it was to protest police brutality against minorities.
Kaepernick then incorporated the flag into his protest. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said at the time.
He later went on to criticize the Betsy Ross Flag and the U.S. killing of a terrorist leader, suggesting it was racist.
Holly Matkin