Thousands assailed his action as disrespectful to the flag, the nation, and those who fought for it.
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“I think when you really take in context and see where he’s coming from”. The firestorm that he stirred up for that is way out of proportion to his action since there are 1700 players on the 32 team roster in the National Football League and even with Kaepernick sitting during the anthem that still leaves 1699 or so players who will stand at rigid attention during the playing of the anthem.
Cruz believes that it is more so about comradery instead of pledging allegiance to the United States, however standing at all for Kaepernick seems hard to do.
“There is some depth and some truth to what he was doing”, Seahawks star Richard Sherman said of Kaepernick. And those who are working on the game, if Kaepernick is on the team and chooses to sit again, I’m sure they’ll get perspective from Kaepernick, they’ll get perspective from Chip Kelly, they’ll get perspective from others and report.
Racial tensions are mounting in the United States, where a string of recent police killings and subsequent revenge killings have sparked protests across the nation.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday that while he can “respect” Kaepernick’s cause, he doesn’t “agree with the method he chose”.
“I thought that was pathetic from him”.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he was confident President Barack Obama is aware of Kaepernick’s actions, but hadn’t spoken directly with the president about it.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback copped widespread criticism from players and fans, but also support from others, when he refused to stand during the “Star-Spangled Banner” during Friday night’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. He said many players were “reminded” to be an “all-American boys”.
There’s just a lot going on that people don’t want to talk about, and I feel like us as athletes, we’re looked at as role models.
Kaepernick then missed almost two weeks of training camp with a exhausted shoulder and was ineffective in his first appearance of the preseason last Friday night against Green Bay.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Eagles rookie linebacker Myke Tavarres told ESPN that he will sit during the anthem ceremony Thursday night in a preseason home game against the New York Jets.
“You have to show some respect, especially in this position that we’re in”, said Boone, whose brother J.J. served in Iraq with the Marines.
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“You see all these pictures of these veterans that have no legs, and they’re standing up in a wheelchair”.
