Casillas: Protest is black & white
Jonathan Casillas hopes he can remain in the NFL a few more years, four or five if he is lucky. When his career is over, he will be a former NFL player.
“But at the end of the day,’’ he said, “I’m still gonna be a black man in America.’’
It is for this reason, Casillas said, he is so passionate about what is going on in society with young African-Americans, with what he sees as injustice in the criminal justice system, with how pained he is to hear divisive rhetoric from the president of the United States, with how disgusted he was to hear President Trump declare NFL owners should fire “son of a bitch’’ players who kneel for the national anthem.
“I’m 30 years old, I drive a Mercedes,’’ said Casillas, who grew up in Jersey City. “When I get in my car and a cop gets behind me I’m very, very nervous. Don’t know why. It was the same exact thing when I was 16, 17 years old. Still to this day, get in my car, I have a daughter in my car, I don’t have anything illegal on me. I’m not doing anything illegal. I’m not drinking or driving, I don’t do stupid stuff like that. But a cop gets behind me, I am so nervous.
“And I have been pulled over for no reason. And when they find out I’m a Giants player they start a conversation with me. That’s happened to me several times, in recent times that’s happened to me. Throughout my career, I don’t know, it’s happened to me so many times I can’t count.’’
With that, Casillas paused, looked around at a group of white members of the media, and asked: “Honestly guys, have you guys ever been in a situation like that, ever?’’
Casillas was called into the NFL office Tuesday to par- ticipate in a round-table discussion with commissioner Roger Goodell, several team owners (including John Mara of the Giants) and players from around the league. Casillas was not one of the three Giants players who took a knee Sunday before the national anthem in Philadelphia. Olivier Vernon, Landon Collins and Damon “Snacks’’ Harrison took a knee while the Giants’ players and coaches stood armin-arm.
“I think there was a mes- sage, but I think people misconstrued what the message was,’’ Vernon said. “I think people took it as a sign of disrespect when really, it’s far from disrespect. There’s rules and regulations and there are things as a citizen, you have a right to do and it’s not about disrespecting anybody. I feel like people really got to do their research before they speak on certain things that they call and deem disrespectful.’’
Feeling frightened while driving and seeing a police car behind him, Casillas said, is why so many took a knee.
“It sucks,’’ Casillas said. “We’ve been dealing with it forever, but hopefully the situation that happened last week with Trump on Friday and what we did as a whole entire league on Sunday and on Monday night, hopefully we can get some progress and the NFL can actually put in some work towards that.’’