49ers safety Eric Reid continues to fight for what he has termed, “systematic oppression.”
Reid’s continuing the national anthem protest begun by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last year. The movement is concerned about racism, and devoting resources to poor communities. To that end, Reid and other players met with NFL owners in October to roll out a joint campaign to bring attention to the issues.
However, there was no follow up meeting, despite Reid’s insistence on “getting into a room.”
Reid was optimistic when NFL executive and former Eagles defensive back Troy Vincent contacted Reid about another meeting. However, as of two weeks ago, those conversations ended.
“As the conversations moved towards resolutions, he just stopped replying,” Reid said before going on his
bye week. “I’ve reached out to Troy and Roger (Goodell). I’m not so sure Troy is capable of handling this any more.”
Reid said he would ask 49ers’ CEO Jed York for help in setting up a meeting.
“We have a plan, we just need to get into a room to convey (the plan).” Reid said. “They want the protests to end, we’ve said from the very beginning if they replace (our) platform, and they do that for us, we feel we won’t need to protest.”
The NFL might be objecting to the players’ demand for a mediator to attend the meeting. There’s also been contention over Kaepernick joining the meeting on the players’ side. Reid wants him to attend, and he’s assured the owners that Kaepernick won’t bring up his suit against the league for collusion. Kaepernick has brought a grievance against the league for collaborating to keep him from playing this year.
The NFL is reaching out with individual players, including Kaepernick. Commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to meet privately with Kaepernick, however, Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, responded saying he wanted a mediator present.
“A mediator would ensure that the discussions were productive and confidential and not used as a public relations stunt or prop by the league,” Geragos told Yahoo’s Charles Robinson. “Colin’s proposal was rejected.”
After a request for a mediator, Geragos said the NFL rejected the interview. NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart spoke to ESPN’s Jim Trotter about the rejected request from Geragos.
“If he wants to come in and have a discussion with the commissioner, he’s welcome to come in,” Lockhart was quoted as saying. “We don’t need a third party. The commissioner has met with and talked to a bunch of players and they don’t have mediators.”
