Reaction:
White House, Trump, Harbaugh, others comment.
Colin Kaepernick has evidently touched a nerve.
On Monday, the 49ers’ quarterback’s refusal to stand for the national anthem inspired a response from a White House hopeful (Donald Trump) and the White House spokesman. Others weighing in: one of Kaepernick’s biggest cheerleaders (Jim Harbaugh) and one of his biggest rivals (Seattle’s Richard Sherman).
In the morning, one player, Philadelphia undrafted rookie linebacker Myke Tavaress, said he would join Kaepernick in sitting for the anthem during a preseason game Thursday. A few hours later, however, Tavaress’ agent said his client had reversed course because he didn’t want to be a distraction.
Similarly, Harbaugh also backpedaled after saying he didn’t respect the “motivation or the action” of Kaepernick’s stance. The Michigan head coach, who was Kaepernick’s coach for his first four NFL seasons, quickly apologized on Twitter: “To clarify, I support Colin’s motivation.”
Harbaugh wasn’t Kaepernick’s only former coach to take issue with his decision. Chris Ault, his head coach at Nevada, wrote a 278-word letter to the Reno JournalGazette.
“Kap using an NFL game as his platform to show the importance of his cause was selfish,” Ault wrote. “Not standing up for an American treasure such as the National Anthem is disrespectful.”
The response came a day after Kaepernick discussed police brutality at length and termed Trump “openly racist” during an 18-minute interview. Kaepernick had said the spate of killings of black people by white police officers was partly because of a lack of training.
“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.”
On Monday, Kaepernick’s targets responded.
Trump said Kaepernick’s refusal to stand was a “terrible thing.”
“Maybe he should find a country that works better for him,” the Republican presidential nominee said on Dori Monson’s radio show in Seattle. “Let him try. It’s not going to happen.”
The San Francisco Police Officers Association ripped Kaepernick’s statements, saying his comments on race and policing showed not just “an incredible lack of knowledge,” but a “naivety and total lack of sensitivity toward police officers.”
In a letter to 49ers CEO Jed York and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, SFPOA President Martin Halloran called Kaepernick’s statements foolish and said he had “embarrassed himself, the 49ers’ organization and the NFL based on a false narrative and misinformation that lacks any factual basis.”
The executive branch was gentler. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Kaepernick’s perspective was “objectionable,” but “we … acknowledge and even defend his right to express those views.”
Meanwhile, Sherman, one of the league’s best cornerbacks, and Jim Brown, one of the best players in its history, also offered their opinions.
Sherman, who gave Kaepernick the choke sign after he threw a game-sealing interception in the January 2014 NFC Championship Game, said Kaepernick “could have picked a better platform.” However, the Stanford graduate, who has been a thoughtful voice on social issues, appreciated Kaepernick’s message.
“You can’t ever stand against the flag,” Sherman said. “A lot of people have sacrificed for it. But there is also a deeper meaning to what he did.”
Brown, 80, who has been known for his social activism, also didn’t support Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the anthem. Brown did say Kaepernick brought to mind outspoken black athletes of the 1960s such as Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell, whose views were met with resistance during the civil-rights movement.
“I listened to him and he makes all of the sense in the world,” Brown said on NFL Network. “He’s within his rights, and he’s telling the truth as he sees it. I am with him 100 percent.
“People are talking about the methodology, but every young man is not a professor like some of my friends.”
“He’s within his rights, and he’s telling the truth as he sees it.” Jim Brown, Pro Football Hall of Famer