When asked about his former quarterback Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh had a lot to say.
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“This is not something that I am going to run by anybody”, he told NFL Media. “And to be honest, a lot of things aren’t new”.
“You can love the country and what it stands for without loving a particular song”, he wrote. “To me, this is something that has to change and when there is significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand”.
With Kaepernick’s stance sparking national outrage in some corners, national discourse in others, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio addressed the topic with his team.
“You’ve got to respect the man’s opinion, as well as his actions”.
Meanwhile, another National Football League legend and civil rights activist Jim Brown said he supports Kaepernick’s protest.
“When you look at the Raiders, you look at an organization that historically has been at the forefront of civil rights and social movements”. Military members fought for his right to do so.
“Like, it’s an oxymoron that you’re sitting down, disrespecting that flag that has given you the freedom to speak out”, Brees said. Kaepernick says he sat, and will continue to sit, over the oppress.
When reached by e-mail for comment, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that NFL players “are encouraged but not required to stand” for the national anthem. “If he wants to do it a certain way, he has that right to choose what he wants to do”. I definitely understand where he’s coming from in choosing to do what he did. “I think it’s a bad thing, and you know, maybe he should find a country that works better for him, let him try, it’s not gonna happen”, Trump told The Dori Monson Show on Monday, per Buzzfeed. Kaepernick did not formally address the media to rehash Sunday’s quotes. That doesn’t make sense to me. “And that goes for anyone who speaks negatively about America”. I don’t and I’m very good at singing it.
But fair-minded people can be passionately opposed to Kaepernick now, too.
“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 told Wyche Friday night”.
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But this exercise of his First Amendment rights is not sitting well with many self-described patriots, who see Kaepernick’s gesture as offensive and anti-American.
