© Brett Davis | 2018 Nov 23
The NFL waited five days to put out a statement after George Floyd’s death in police custody. Maybe it would’ve been better not to release one at all.
That’s how it seems based on the reaction to the statement authored by commissioner Roger Goodell, which was panned as disingenuous by players and celebrities including Kenny Stills, Eric Reid and Ava DuVernay. The outcry is undoubtedly linked to the “blackballing” of Colin Kaepernick, who remains unsigned after kneeling during the national anthem throughout the 2016 season, as a means to protest racial inequality and police brutality.
As of this writing, the tweet has 24.5 thousand comments, and just 4.2 thousand retweets.
— NFL (@NFL) May 30, 2020
Former Warrior Stephen Jackson is the latest to speak out against the statement, saying that the only way people are going to take the league seriously is if the NFL issues a public apology to Kaepernick.
“That’s so fake, man. It’s so fake,” Jackson told The Undefeated.
“Why even do it? We know it’s not real. We know it’s not real. You’re making yourself look bad. That’s one of those situations where they shouldn’t even say nothing, bro. They shouldn’t even say nothing. … If anything, they need to apologize to [Colin] Kaepernick. If they’re gonna respond on this type of stuff, start it off with an apology to Kaepernick. Then maybe we’ll accept it.”
Former league executive Joe Lockhart recently admitted that teams were afraid of losing up to 20 percent of their season ticket holders if they signed Kaepernick.