Amidst the growing chaos in the United States right now, sports leagues across the country plan to resume or begin their seasons in the coming weeks.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you can bet that all the athletes from their respective leagues will kneel during the national anthem in solidarity with disgraced former quarterback Colin Kaepernick. His former colleagues will lead the charge.
One of Kaepernick’s biggest original defenders and colleague was in hot water because the anti-Trump NFL start was facing felony charges after an arrest at a protest.
Who were disgraced former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s original defenders? Hollywood, of course. The liberal sports media sang his praises for years, even shaming NFL franchises for not hiring the anti-American distraction.
But inside the league, his first original defenders, who joined him in kneeling in 2016, are two players that picked up the torch and ran with it when he left the team; current Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid and Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills.
Stills, particularly, bolstered Kaepernick more than anybody else. Last season, Stills was the runner up to the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year Award – an award given to players who give back to their local communities – and donated his $50,000 prize money to Kaepernick’s charity.
He’s become a headache for every organization he’s played for, which is why the Miami Dolphins traded him to the Texans for pennies on the dollar, and it’s why his relationship with Coach Bill O’Brien has been less than fruitful during his tenure so far there.
But Stills just created an even bigger headache for the organization because he’s now facing felony charges after his arrest in Louisville, Kentucky during a protest over the death of Breonna Taylor.
According to the Courier-Journal: “Stills, 28, was entered into the jail’s booking log just before midnight after having been taken into custody earlier in the afternoon, as he and dozens of other protesters marched to the home of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to demand action against the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in March. Stills was charged with intimidating a participant in the legal process, a felony, as well as misdemeanor disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. His arraignment was set for 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.”
However, those charges were eventually dropped and is no longer in legal trouble.
And even if that was still the case, the one silver lining for the Texans would have been that players are not suspended by the league while they’re out on bail. The NFL conducts its own investigation, but don’t be surprised if the league ignores the incident altogether. They want to avoid a public relations nightmare at all costs, which means turning the other cheek on his arrest.
The reason why is what the Courier-Journal also noted, which was: “Stills’ charges mirror those that 86 other protesters who were arrested Tuesday are facing. More than 100 marched from Ballard High School in Louisville’s East End to the home of Cameron, who protesters have long demanded charge the three Louisville Metro Police officers involved in Taylor’s killing.”
That paragraph is the perfect reflection of what followed. Downplay the crime because it was in the name of vigilante justice, right? They’re noble by taking the law in their own hands is the point the Courier-Journal wants to get across.
But all of the 87 protesters who were arrested were all given an opportunity to leave before being removed from the property.
Stills will be there on the sidelines on opening day kneeling in solidarity with Kaepernick. County on it.