Rev. Al Sharpton addressing Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL:
“Well don’t apologize — give Colin Kaepernick a job back.” pic.twitter.com/D0s3537Xes
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 9, 2020
If you want proof that sticking to sports is impossible these days, the funeral of George Floyd on Tuesday was yet another example of how larger cultural issues are connected to all facets of American life.
Floyd, who was just the latest Black person to be killed at the hands of a white police officer, was the type of person Colin Kaepernick had in mind when he kneeled during the national anthem as a protest for racial injustice for Black Americans. That was not lost on the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called for the former 49ers quarterback to be given a job by the NFL during his speech at the funeral, and framed Roger Goodell’s recent comments as empty until that happens.
“All this family wants is justice,” Sharpton said. “Oh, it’s nice to see some people change their mind. Head of the NFL said yeah ‘maybe we was wrong. Football players, maybe they did have the right to peacefully protest.’ Well don’t apologize, give Colin Kaepernick a job back.”
The murder of Floyd led to widespread protests across the country, calling for the same type of justice that Kaepnernick said he was kneeling for starting in 2016. There is a renewed sense of momentum that a team might offer Kap a contract, after it was assumed that ship had long sailed just a few months ago.
Goodell also said for the first time that the league supports and encourages peaceful protesting. For Sharpton, that’s not enough.
“Don’t come with some empty apology. Take a man’s livelihood. Strip a man down of his talents. And four years later when the whole world is watching, all of the sudden you go do a FaceTime, talking about you’re sorry? Minimizing the value of our lives. If you’re sorry, then repay the damage you did to the career you stood down, because when Colin took a knee, he took it for the families in this building, and we don’t want an apology, we want him repaid.”