Former San Francisco 49er and the second player to kneel with Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid has signed a contract with the Carolina #Panthers after being a free agent since beginning the protest.
Reid joined Kaepernick in a lawsuit filed against the league, arguing that owners colluded to keep both men off the field, according to The Root. The signing could harm Kaepernick‘s collusion case, giving the #NFL an opportunity to say, “At least we hired one of them.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In March, Reid did note that he wouldn’t be taking a knee during the national anthem when he returned to the field and would instead raise awareness for social justice causes in other ways. He said, “We understand you have to change with the times. I’m not saying I’m going to stop being active because I won’t. I’m just going to consider different ways to be active, different ways to bring awareness to the issues of this country and improve on the issues happening in this country. I don’t think it will be in the form of protesting during the anthem. I say ‘during,’ because it’s crazy that the narrative changed to we were protesting the anthem, and that wasn’t the case. I think we’re going to take a different approach to how we’re going to be active.”
The new Panthers owner David Tepper has always been supportive of the NFL protests as opposed to the team’s previous owner, so the move for Reid should be comfortable. Tepper said in a statement, “These are some of the most patriotic people and best people,” he told USA Today. “These are great young men. So to say that [they aren’t patriotic] makes me so aggravated and angry. It’s just wrong, it’s dead wrong.”
Colin congratulated his former teammate on #Twitter stating, “Congrats 2 my brother @e_reid35, all-pro safety who should have been signed the 1st day of free agency, who has signed a football contract.
He was the 1ST person 2 kneel alongside me. Eric is a social justice warrior, continues to support his family. and communities in need.”
Do you think Reid signing will affect Kaepernick’s efforts in the NFL protests?
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