Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills came out swinging Friday against the National Football League for “blackballing” two of the league’s original protesters, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid.
Stills, who was one of the Dolphins players who renewed the anthem protests by taking a knee in last week’s preseason game, exclaimed that the league should admit to blackballing Kaepernick and Reid, both of whom have been sitting on the sidelines and left unsigned by any team since becoming free agents in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
But Stills noted it would “take a lot” for the NFL to acknowledge that they had blackballed the players.
“What would it take? It would take a lot,” Stills told the Palm Beach Post. “But I think a good first step for us as a league would be acknowledging what they’re doing to Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid. You can’t say as a league that you support the players and the protest and then blackball the players that initially started the protest.”
Indeed, Stills said he thinks the players and the owners can’t even come to an agreement over the protests without the admission coming first.
“If you want to… talk about solutions, we need to start there as a league,” Stills concluded. “Then we can start drawing up solutions to some of these other problems.”
But echoing millions of NFL fans — many who now insist they are former fans — President Donald Trump jumped to Twitter to excoriate the renewed protests:
The NFL players are at it again – taking a knee when they should be standing proudly for the National Anthem. Numerous players, from different teams, wanted to show their “outrage” at something that most of them are unable to define. They make a fortune doing what they love…
Be happy, be cool! A football game, that fans are paying soooo much money to watch and enjoy, is no place to protest. Most of that money goes to the players anyway. Find another way to protest. Stand proudly for your National Anthem or be Suspended Without Pay!
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.