Colin Kaepernick may not have a job in the NFL at the moment but his peers across the league have continued his protest during the national anthem. Yesterday, players, coaches and owners across the league took a knee during the anthem, while others locked arms in a show of unity and protest of Donald Trump's comments about "son of a bitch" players who "disrespect our flag."
President Trump said this at a rally on Friday night: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired!"
Some teams, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans remained in the tunnel while the anthem played, further demonstrating their stance against Trump and his values.
TMZ reporters caught up with Colin Kaepernick, along with girlfriend Nessa, on Monday afternoon in New York City to get his take about the mass anthem protests on Sunday, but the free agent QB wasn't willing to comment. Kaepernick, who was on his way to a workout, politely declined to speak on yesterday's demonstrations.
Kaepernick has maintained that he still wants to play in the NFL this year, but has been unable to gain any traction with any of the organizations.
Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who was among those kneeling on the sidelines yesterday, said the team was on the cusp of offering Kaepernick a deal but they decided not to after his girlfriend, Hot97 radio host Nessa, posted a photo on twitter depicting Ray Lewis as Samuel L. Jackson's slave-master-loving character from Django Unchained.
During a recent taping of Showtime's "Inside The NFL," the former Ravens captain said, "we were going to close the deal to sign him" but "it never happens because that picture comes up the next day."
Lewis said, per ESPN,
"We were going to close the deal to sign him," Lewis said on Showtime's "Inside the NFL" on Tuesday night. "Steve Bisciotti said, 'I want to hear Colin Kaepernick speak to let me know that he wants to play football.'"
"And it never happens because that picture comes up the next day."
"His girl [Diab] goes out and put out this racist gesture and doesn't know we are in the back office about to try to get this guy signed," Lewis said. "Steve Bisciotti has said it himself: 'How can you crucify Ray Lewis when Ray Lewis is the one calling for Colin Kaepernick?'"
When asked whether the Ravens would have actually signed Kaepernick if that tweet wasn't sent, Lewis said,
"Then he's flying him to Baltimore," Lewis said. "I am sitting with all three of them and we are all having a conversation about bringing Colin Kaepernick in."