KAP’S MATE KNEES NFL
FILES COLLUSION GRIEVANCE
ANOTHER FORMER San Francisco 49er has filed a collusion grievance against the NFL, claiming he has been sidelined because he kneeled during the national anthem.
Eric Reid, the first teammate to take a knee beside Colin Kaepernick, filed the grievance Wednesday, his lawyer Mark Geragos confirmed.
“We did file this morning,” Geragos told the Daily News. “I can’t confirm the details because they’re confidential under collective bargaining, but clearly there is a case of collusion.”
The players’ union said it would support the safety’s grievance.
“Our union is aware that Eric Reid and his legal representatives filed a collusion claim, which will be heard through the arbitration process as spelled out in our collective bargaining agreement,” an NFL Players Association spokesman said in a statement.
Kaepernick, 30, filed a similar grievance last October with the same lawyers, Geragos and Ben Meiselas.
Kaepernick, a former starting quarterback, and Reid, a 26-year-old safety and former Pro Bowler, claim the NFL colluded to keep them out of the league after they kneeled in peaceful protest during the national anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice.
Reid became a free agent in March, after his fouryear, $8.4 million contract expired at the end of last season.
He has gone unsigned despite a career that featured 10 interceptions, 264 tackles, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in his first five seasons.
According to reports, the Cincinnati Bengals brought Reid in last month with every intention of adding him to their roster. Reid even took a physical and watched game film with the coaching staff. But when team owner Mike Brown met personally with Reid, and asked him about the sideline protest, Reid reportedly did not give him a definitive answer about whether he would continue to kneel.
Kaepernick’s collusion case remains ongoing, as commissioner Roger Goodell (photo), league executives and several team owners have already been deposed.
It was during the 2016 season that Kaepernick first drew national attention for sitting and then kneeling during the anthem.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said at the time that “players are encouraged but not required to stand for the anthem.”
President Trump then took up the issue with divisive comments about the kneeling players.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired,’” Trump said.