Reid returns to NFL with Panthers Ryder Cup begins with pressure for everyone
Charlotte, N.C. — Eric Reid's return to the NFL created a buzz around the league on Thursday, six months after he filed a grievance alleging collusion by the NFL to prevent teams from signing him because of his participation in racial injustice protests during the national anthem alongside former San Francisco 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick.
Some NFL players were excited about the 2013 Pro Bowl safety signing a one-year deal with the Panthers, but were quick to point out they believe Kaepernick should be back in the league as well.
Kaepernick congratulated his Reid on Twitter , saying Reid "should have been signed the 1st day of free agency . ... He was the 1ST person 2 kneel alongside me. Eric is a social justice warrior, continues to support his family and communities in need."
Browns running back Carlos Hyde, who played with Reid and Kaepernick in San Francisco, was stunned to hear his former teammate had been picked up by the Panthers.
"For real?" Hyde said following Cleveland's practice. "I'm so happy for him. It's been too long. I kind of felt like they was doing him the same way they were doing Kap, so it's good to see E-Reid got signed and Kap should definitely be up next. It would be a real good thing then."
Said Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett, "It's about time."
As for Reid, who filed his grievance in May, he was mum during the hoopla on Thursday, declining comment through the Panthers and not weighing in on social media except to re-tweet Kaepernick.
The 26-year-old Reid said in March that he doesn't plan to protest during the national anthem this season. The Panthers have a bye this week and next play at home on Oct. 7 against the New York Giants.
Kaepernick, who filed his grievance in October 2017 and remains a free agent, began protesting racial and social injustice during the 2016 preseason by kneeling during the national anthem. Reid later joined the quarterback. After that other players around the league joined in, much to the displeasure of President Trump, who Tweeted at players to "Find another way to protest. Stand proudly for your National Anthem or be Suspended Without Pay!"
That sparked a polarizing political debate that divided some NFL fans.
Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills knelt during this year's season opener against the Titans.
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France — Jim Furyk has spent four days watching his team play loose and confident, two key ingredients he hopes will allow the Americans to end 25 years without winning the Ryder Cup away from home.
He can only hope that's what he sees when the shots at Le Golf National really count.
"What would make me nervous?" Furyk said on the eve of the matches. "If I showed up in the morning and guys had a look on their face that made me nervous. I don't usually see that with this group."
Flags were raised, anthems were played and the partisan cheers began late Thursday afternoon to signal the end of a hype and anticipation of a Ryder Cup featuring two of the strongest teams the U.S. and Europe have presented at the same time. Now it's time to play. "I believe in this team, one through 12," European captain Thomas Bjorn said.
Furyk chose to send off Ryder Cup rookie Tony Finau and three-time major champion Brooks Koepka in the opening fourballs match today against Justin Rose and rookie Jon Rahm. He also broke up the Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed partnership that had delivered five points in seven matches over the last two Ryder Cups.
Instead, Spieth gets to play with one of his best friends, Justin Thomas, a relationship that took root in France more than a decade ago when both wore American colors in the Evian Junior Masters.
"Very familiar with each other's games — have been for, shoot, over 10 years now," Spieth said. "So it's going to be really exciting to be able to look at him on the first tee and kind of remember where we've come from, and we're both here."
Reed gets his hero — Tiger Woods — in the anchor match.
"We both feel like we're playing well, and we want to go out there and represent our country the best," said Reed, who in two Ryder Cups has been called "Captain America" because of his fist-pumping, ear-cupping, finger-shushing bravado. "The best way to do that is go out and have some fun and try to play some good golf and do it the right way. And any time you get to tee it up with Big Cat, it's always fun."
They play against British Open champion Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood.
Missing from the American lineup is Phil Mickelson, who will sit out the opening session for the first time since his Ryder Cup debut in 1995.
Bjorn has five Ryder Cup rookies on his side, and four of them will be walking to that first tee to hit a shot before a grandstand that looks like it belongs at a football stadium, 72 feet high with a capacity of 6,928, unheard of for a golf tournament.
That starts with Rahm, the latest Spaniard who brings a big game and big emotion to an event that means so much to all of Europe. He will be with Rose, who has played effectively with Henrik Stenson the last two Ryder Cups.
Both captains delivered the same message: Their teams are so strong that they had loads of options and tough choices on whom to sit. Another session of foursomes follow Friday afternoon, and neither was willing to guarantee that everyone will have played by the end of the day.
Bjorn said he would accept a split of the morning matches considering he has four rookies playing, though he hopes for more.
"You'd like to be ahead after any session, but when I look at these matches, they could be as tight as anything, all four of them, and it's impossible for me to predict what's going to happen," Bjorn said.
"What would surprise me?" he added. "I think I learned to not expect anything but surprises in this. It would surprise me if it's quiet on the first tee."
Pressure is unlike any other event in golf, with 28 matches held over three days, relentless action before partisan cheering. It started during the opening ceremony, where Woods received the loudest ovation, and even chants of "Tiger, Tiger" were overpowering chants of "USA."
Not long after winning two years ago at Hazeltine, the Americans were reminded they haven't won on European soil since The Belfry in 1993, the year three of its players — Spieth, Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau — were born.
Woods was still in high school.