The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

Kaepernick will sit through anthem until there’s change

- By Janie Mccauley

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. >> Defiant and determined to be a conduit for U.S. change, Colin Kaepernick plans to sit through the national anthem for as long as he feels is appropriat­e and until he sees significan­t progress in America and specifical­ly when it comes to race relations.

He knows he could be cut by San Francisco for this stand. Criticized, ostracized he’ll go it all alone if need be, and he’s not asking anyone to follow his lead. The quarterbac­k realizes he might be treated poorly in some road cities, and he’s ready for that, too, saying he’s not overly concerned about his safety, but “if something happens that’s only proving my point.”

“I’m going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed,” Kaepernick said Sunday at his locker. “To me this is something that has to change. When there’s significan­t change and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, this country is representi­ng people the way that it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.”

Two days after he refused to stand for the “The Star Spangled Banner” before the 49ers’ preseason loss to the Packers, Kaepernick said he will make his point for as long as necessary, just as he has chosen to do all preseason.

Whatever the consequenc­es, Kaepernick insists he will know “I did what’s right.” He said he hasn’t heard from the NFL or anyone else about and it won’t matter if he does.

“No one’s tried to quiet me and, to be honest, it’s not something I’m going to be quiet about,” he said. “I’m going to speak the truth when I’m asked about it. This isn’t for look. This isn’t for publicity or anything like that. This is for people that don’t have the voice. And this is for people that are being oppressed and need to have equal opportunit­ies to be successful. To provide for families and not live in poor circumstan­ces.”

Letting his hair go au natural and sprinting between drills as usual, Kaepernick took the field Sunday with the 49ers as his

stance drew chatter across NFL camps.

He addressed his teammates in the morning and explained his viewpoints, some agreeing with his message but not necessaril­y his method. Some said they know he has offended his countrymen, some didn’t even know what he had done.

“Every guy on this team is entitled to their opinion. We’re all grown men,” linebacker NaVorro Bowman said.

“I agree with what he did but not in the way he did it,” wideout Torrey Smith said. “That’s not for me. He has that right. Soldiers have died for his right to do exactly what he did . ... I know he’s taken a lot of heat for it. He understand­s that when you do something like that it does offend a lot of people.”

Both Bowman and Smith are African American.

Kaepernick criticized presidenti­al candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, whom he called “openly racist;” called out police brutality against minorities; and pushed for accountabi­lity.

“You can become a cop in six months and don’t have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetolog­ist,” Kaepernick said. “That’s insane. Someone that’s holding a curling iron has more education and more training than people that have a gun and are going out on the street to protect us.”

In college at Nevada, Kaepernick said, police drew guns on him and his teammates and roommates as they were moving one day.

He said his stand is not against men and women in the military fighting and losing their lives for Americans’ rights and freedoms.

Kaepernick, whose hair had been in cornrows during training camp, sat on the bench during Friday’s national anthem at Levi’s Stadium.

“There’s a lot of things that need to change. One specifical­ly? Police brutality,” said Kaepernick, whose adoptive parents are Caucasian. “There’s people being murdered unjustly and not being held accountabl­e. People are being given paid leave for killing people. That’s not right. That’s not right by anyone’s standards.”

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