The saga of Colin Kaepernick is familiar to anyone who has followed the NFL in recent years, but it has returned to the conversation in the past week as the nation is gripped by protests following the death of George Floyd in police custody. And former running back LaDainian Tomlinson is also weighing in.
Kaepernick, once the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, began taking a knee to protest and bring awareness to police brutality, racism and injustice in the United States. However, some people have a problem with the way Kaepernick went about making his stance.
That also seemed to include the NFL. The quarterback was soon out of the league and it appeared that no team had much interest in bringing him in, apparently because of his political stance. This caused a major divide between players, fans and the league's decision makers.
The Hall of Famer Tomlinson is among those displeased with how the league has treated quarterback, saying to Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
“It’s unfortunate and it’s sad and it’s a black eye on our league, no question about it, what happened to Kaepernick not being able to get a job … I think now people are starting to appreciate what he did and they’re understanding of why he did what he did even though at the time he was telling us what he was doing it for. People didn’t want to listen. They wanted to hijack the message and say, ‘Oh, he’s disrespecting the flag.’ Now when it’s blatant and it’s in your face, you have to accept the fact that, you know what, I was wrong. This is not right.
“I’m just glad people are not turning a blind eye. I’m happy they’re not saying this is just one incident and that’s a bad cop. I’m glad people are not doing that. We need true police reform. We need justice reform. We need criminal justice reform. We need all of these things.”
Tomlinson used his platform to bring more attention to Kaepernick's protests and how the league will not be viewed favorably in the future when people look back at how it treated the quarterback.
Tomlinson then went on to speak about police, justice and criminal justice reform. Reforms that he and many others believe need to occur in the United States.
This is a very polarizing time in our history. And it's powerful to see people like Tomlinson speak out on behalf of both justice and of Kaepernick's hard work.
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