One down, one to go. Safety Eric Reid, one of two players bringing a collusion case against the NFL, has signed with the Carolina Panthers. The other player in the suit is free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Both players claim that they’re protests during the national anthem are the real reason, why they were not signed by NFL teams. Reid’s signing will not, however, prevent him from continuing as a party to the collusion case.
The Panthers, in dire need of a safety help after losing starter Da’Norris Searcy to a concussion, signed Reid to a one-year contract on Thursday.
Reid, who knelt during the national anthem the previous two seasons while playing for San Francisco, raised his fist posing for a photo while signing his contract in Charlotte. Reid said in March, that he won’t kneel during the anthem moving forward.
The Panthers are saying this is a football decision.
“Eric has been a starting safety in the NFL and has played at a high level throughout his career,” Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney said in a statement. “After we put Da’Norris Searcy on injured reserve, Ron (Rivera) and I discussed our options, and Eric was at the top of our list. He is a physical safety with good ball skills and play-making ability.”
In an interview with ESPN, Hurney doubled down on this strictly being a football move.
“We made this decision based on the fact he’s a good football player,” Hurney told ESPN. “He’s played at a very high level the last few years. We think he can come in and help us win games.”
Reid is a talented safety who was a first-round pick of the 49ers in the 2013 draft, selected 18th overall. He spent his first five seasons with San Francisco where he made one Pro Bowl. During his time in San Francisco, he amassed ten interceptions. He played college football at LSU.
Perhaps paving the way for the Panthers to sign Reid is having a new owner, David Tepper, who recently too umbrage with people questioning the patriotism of anthem protesters.
“These are some of the most patriotic people and best people. These are great young men,” Tepper told CNBC on Sept. 13. “So to say that [they aren’t patriotic] makes me so aggravated and angry. It’s just wrong, it’s dead wrong.”
Signing Reid might have been a tougher sell with the team’s former owner Jerry Richardson.
Former Panthers safety Marcus Ball told Sports Illustrated earlier this year, he feels he was released by the Panthers in 2016 for protesting during the anthem. He also he believes then-Owner Jerry Richardson was behind the move. Ball now plays in the Canadian Football League.
So if Richardson still owned the team, this signing might not have happened.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Reid’s collusion case against the NFL will proceed.
Why did Reid kneel during the anthem in 2016-17? He explained his reasoning in a guest column for the New York Times in 2017.
“In early 2016, I began paying attention to reports about the incredible number of unarmed black people being killed by the police,” wrote Reid. “The posts on social media deeply disturbed me, but one in particular brought me to tears: the killing of Alton Sterling in my hometown Baton Rouge, La. This could have happened to any of my family members who still live in the area. I felt furious, hurt and hopeless. I wanted to do something, but didn’t know what or how to do it. All I knew for sure is that I wanted it to be as respectful as possible.
“A few weeks later, during preseason, my teammate Colin Kaepernick chose to sit on the bench during the national anthem to protest police brutality. To be honest, I didn’t notice at the time, and neither did the news media. It wasn’t until after our third preseason game on Aug. 26, 2016, that his protest gained national attention, and the backlash against him began.
“That’s when my faith moved me to take action. I looked to James 2:17, which states, ‘Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.’ I knew I needed to stand up for what is right.”
And for the Panthers, signing Reid “is right” due to their need at safety.
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