I have interviewed over a hundred people in my career. Minor leaguers, rookies, professional athletes, collegiate athletes, friends, coaches, All-Stars, celebrities, wives and girlfriends of athletes, families, strangers, fans, literally anyone you can think of, I've transcribed an interview or two. Not a lot of them are breakthrough worthy. Clint Barmes can only retire one time and an update on Timmy Lincecum comes once in a blue moon.
Most of the time, the interviews are simple. I need a couple simple questions answered, and I get the simple questions answered. So when something delicious comes from the mouth of someone I'm asking questions to, my ears perk up.
A situation happened Friday where 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the National Anthem before the preseason matchup against the Green Bay Packers. He spoke to the NFL Network following the situation:
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told Steve Wyche of NFL Network. “To me, it’s bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street, and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
I wasn't aware of what happened until Saturday morning where I did the typical thing of waking up at 7:30 am, and staying on my phone for an extra hour.
Scrolling through opinion after opinion and it was a lot to take in. One thing I hate about my job when it comes to my personality is how charismatic and how much compassion I have for the athletes I work with. Maybe it was because I'm a former athlete myself, or some of these women and men have opened up to me. Maybe in this case I was a tad biased because I got to watch Colin grow during his years playing for the Nevada Wolfpack. He was playing in Reno when I decided this is what I wanted to do for a living and he was one of the first players I was able to write about. I remember him being this scrawny quarterback in a blue jersey who nobody took seriously. And I also recognized being able to relate to that. I'm also a tad biased with the fact I adore Colin's family.
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Think of it this way: when you are drafting your fantasy lineups do you care that a guy just had a baby or is going through a divorce? Or that he just had to make a huge/sudden move across the country leaving his family?
No.
You care about what's in the box scores week-after-week. That's what you look at. But then you complain you don't get enough from their interviews or they walk off because of an offensive question...Then an athlete gives an opinion that doesn't have a sparkly bow wrapped around it and all of a sudden an athlete stands up for something (no pun intended) and people are upset.
But YOU are allowed to react to what he did. You're allowed to burn his jerseys and you're allowed to call him a piece of shit.
But since he makes a certain amount of money and is in the limelight, he has to do it a certain way.
Do you understand the vicious circle that is occurring here?
Just as much as Kaepernick had the right to sit down during the National Anthem, you had the right to call him names and give your two cents about it. But guess what? At the end of the day there will still be issues. There will still be hate in this world, so it doesn't matter.
I support Colin in sticking up for what he believes in. Just like I have supported others in decisions I may not agree with. He exercised his First Amendment Rights just as you and I do day-after-day.
Don't expect Colin to be the last person in the spotlight to stand up for what he believes in. Because he certainly wasn't the first.
