Al Sharpton says the NFL’s apology for issuing a ban on kneeling in protest during the national anthem doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t give former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick a spot back on a team.
“Oh, it’s nice to see some people change their mind, the head of the NFL said yeah, maybe we was wrong,” Sharpton said during remarks he made at the funeral of George Floyd in Houston on Tuesday. “Football players, maybe they did have the right to peacefully protest. Well, don’t apologize. Give Colin Kaepernick a job back!”
Sharpton’s remarks come amid two weeks of national unrest that followed the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis, which led to major protests against systemic racism and police brutality.
Earlier this week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made a video apology saying the league was wrong for not listening earlier to NFL protesters, who had demonstrated against police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick was the first player to engage in the protest and was later believed to have been blackballed because of the action. The NFL initially banned kneeling during the anthem, and Kaepernick remains unsigned.
Goodell said the NFL would now “encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest” and he would reach out to players who had spoken out. Goodell did not mention Kaepernick by name.
“Without black players, there would be no National Football League, and the protests around the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality, and oppression of black players, coaches, fans, and staff,” Goodell said.
Sharpton hit back at the apology from Goodell, saying the NFL needed to pay for the damages done to Kaepernick’s career.
“Don’t come with some empty apology,” Sharpton said. “Take a man’s livelihood, strip a man down of his talents. And four years later when the whole world is watching, all of a sudden you go and do a FaceTime talking about you sorry! Minimizing the value of our lives. You sorry? Then repay the damage you did to the career you stood down, because when Colin took a knee, he took it for the families in this building, and we don’t want an apology. We want him repaired. Equal justice. Equal fairness.”
