Baltimore Orioles star Adam Jones says that baseball players aren’t protesting the national anthem like NFL players including Colin Kaepernick because, “Baseball is a white man’s sport.”
“We already have two strikes against us already,” Jones told USA Today, “so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can’t kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don’t need us.”
Kaepernick, the backup quarterback for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, made headlines last month when he protested the anthem by not standing. He said that he was refusing to “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people.”
The polarizing decision has been supported by several NFL players, including members of the Miami Dolphins, but baseball players haven’t joined Kaepernick.
USA Today published statistics to backup Jones’ claim that “Baseball is a white man’s sport,” reporting that African-Americans make up 68 percent of the NFL, 74 percent of the NBA and only 8 percent of Major League Baseball.
Since Kaepernick’s protest, the response has been polarizing. Charlie Sheen, Spike Lee and President Obama have expressed support, and Kaepernick’s jersey sales have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, Bleacher Report wrote that NFL execs who despise Kaepernick’s actions outnumber the front office members who support him.
“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” Kaepernick told NFL Media after the first game in which he protested. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Colin Kaepernick Controversy: 8 Stars Weigh In, From Donald Trump to Spike Lee
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has refused to stand for the national anthem because he won't "show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people," and just about everyone has an opinion.
Click on for the highest-profile hot takes on both sides of the issue...
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Colin Kaepernick
"To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way," the quarterback told NFL Media. "There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
"He's within his rights and he's telling the truth as he sees it," Brown said. "The young men of today are stepping up. For so many years they did not step up."
The polarizing "First Take" host said Kaepernick "personified what a protest is supposed to be.”
He continued: “There’s a difference between bringing attention to something, and sacrificing. And I’m telling you right now, when you look at what Colin Kaepernick did, this was a sacrifice.”
"All lives matter. So much going on in this world today. Can we all just get along! Colin, I respect your stance but don't disrespect the Flag," the 49ers legend tweeted.
Rice played most of his pro football career in San Francisco and is widely considered to be the best wide receiver of all time. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
The NBA legend wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post ripping critics of the protest.
Abdul-Jabbar is a former cultural ambassador for the United States and recently authored a book called “Writings on the Wall: Searching for a New Equality Beyond Black and White.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charlie Sheen and Jim Brown also take sides in QB’s refusal to stand for the national anthem
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has refused to stand for the national anthem because he won't "show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people," and just about everyone has an opinion.
Click on for the highest-profile hot takes on both sides of the issue...