Knee deep in current events

When Colin Kaepernick first took a knee in 2016 during the Star Spangled Banner, protesting the U.S. treatment of minorities, there was a firestorm of fury.

He and other

NFL players who kneeled were called unpatriotic and disrespectful of the flag and the country.

U.S. president

Donald Trump quickly said: ‘Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flag to say: ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field, right now. Out. He’s fired.

He’s fired.’ Maybe they shouldn’t be in the country.”

Edmonton

Eskimos offensive tackle SirVincent Rogers said he gets why Kaepernick, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016, did what he did.

“There is so much pride in America that revolves around our flag,” said Rogers. “But when you think about our national anthem, there are verses we don’t sing today because it had things that were offensive to the black community.

“That ties into why (Kaepernick) wanted to peacefully protest. He knew the majority of America takes pride in the flag and the anthem. He had the audience.

“The people in America who don’t want to give up racism and the privilege hijacked his protest and made it about the flag — that it was something that was it offensive to our military and our flag. That’s not what it was about. Had I been playing in America at that time, I would’ve been kneeling beside him. “Fast forward to the current events: An officer puts his knee on the neck of another man for nine minutes, never relenting. It’s crazy how things come around. (Kaepernick) peacefully protests, then to have something so tragic — like what just happened to George Floyd — it’s sad to wrap your mind around.”