Jim Brown Speaks On Kaepernick: ‘I’m American — I Don’t Desecrate My Flag and My National Anthem’

by Margaret M. | August 25, 2017 4:36 pm

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Jim Brown was a fullback for the Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965 and is considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time. So when the multiple-time NFL MVP was asked his opinion on Colin Kaepernick, he could’ve stuck to talking about his game, but instead went straight for the actions he’s most famous for.

Giving an interview with ThePostGame:

“I want to be in his corner, and I do think, ‘God bless him,’ ” Brown said. “I’m going to give you the real deal: I’m an American. I don’t desecrate my flag and my national anthem[2]. I’m not gonna do anything against the flag and national anthem. I’m going to work within those situations. But this is my country, and I’ll work out the problems, but I’ll do it in an intelligent manner.”

Kaepernick, a free agent, sat out the national anthem last year, his final year with the San Francisco 49ers, to draw attention to the treatment of minorities as well as police brutality. While those are issues that Brown has spoken out about for decades, he said Kaepernick should have found another way.

Jim Brown (and fellow NFL legend Ray Lewis) both met with Trump in December 2016, where Brown “spoke of his admiration for Donald Trump[3]” and said they discussed “how to work together… to make America a better country.”

Further in the interview, he said:

“If you’re a football player, play football. If you’re going to be a real activist, use your money, use your notoriety.”

He said that activism and football “contradict each other[4].” Before retiring, Brown became an activist in the Civil Rights movement, which is definitely better than Colin Kaepernick’s activism which is about “fighting oppression of all kinds globally, through education and social activism.[5]“

“If you have a cause, I think you should organize it, present it in a manner where it’s not only you standing or sitting on one knee, but a lot of people that is gonna get behind each other and do something about it,” said Brown.

Kaepernick has pledged to donate $1 million and all of his 2016 jersey proceeds to charities. The Colin Kaepernick Foundation announced earlier this week that $800,000 has been paid to several charities so far.

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/sports-2/jim-brown-speaks-kaepernick-im-american-dont-desecrate-flag-national-anthem/

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