Kaepernick takes a knee; another NFLer takes a seat

The quarterback wouldn’t stand for the anthem at the team’s preseason games, most recently kneeling alongside teammate Eric Reid in San Diego on Thursday night.

Nate Boyer, a veteran of the U.S Army Special Forces and former National Football League player, stood next to the San Francisco 49ers quarterback while “Star Spangled Banner” played in San Diego.

Being San Diego, Kaepernick’s protest was met with continued booing throughout the pre-season game.

The team reiterated Friday night that it stands behind Kaepernick and respects his right not to participate in celebrating the national anthem.

On Thursday, Seahawks cornerback Lane, 26, followed Kaepernick’s example when he didn’t stand up for the national anthem during a game in Oakland, California.

“I realize men and women of the military go out and sacrifice their lives, put their selves in harm’s way for my freedom of speech and my freedoms in this country, my freedom to take a seat or take a knee”, he said.

“When we have a figure like him that’s willing to talk about these issues, because so many people are not, we have to not only support him, but we have to stand with him when he stands with us”, Public Defender Jeff Adachi said at the rally.

Kaepernick, who was born in Milwaukee to a white mother and an black father, said at Thursday night’s news conference he believed his protest has been falsely painted as “anti-American and “anti-men-and-women-of-the-military”. I want to help make America better. “And I think what I did was taken out of context and spun a different way”.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick says that he is not looking for approval.

“If the 49ers organization fails to take action to stop this type of inappropriate behavior it could result in police officers choosing not to work at your facilities”, the letter reads.

“He saw that it hurt people that he sat during the national anthem”, Reid said, according to ESPN.

But droves of people are standing up for Kaepernick, including fellow professional athletes and, notably, veterans of all races who have taken to social media with the hashtag, #VeteransForKaepernick.

The quarterback also said he’s working with community organizations to give $1 million of his almost $12 million salary to people in need, according to US today. “I just liked what he’s doing and I like standing behind him”. It’s supporting what the Fourth of July celebrates and what those war memorials commemorate: the U.S. Constitution’s insistence that all people should have the same rights and opportunities and that it is the obligation of the government to make that happen.

Throughout this eventful week, Kaepernick has maintained he supports the military and people who fight to defend the freedoms of the United States while continuing to speak out on an issue he feels isn’t getting the necessary attention it needs to be fixed. “Those issues need to be addressed”, he said.