In recent years, the sharing of political beliefs has been growing in popularity among professional athletes in our country. One of the more notable events that is said to jumpstart this movement would be the actions taken by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the 2016 NFL preseason.
Kaepernick famously sat and knelt during the playing of the national anthem at the beginning of the team’s games. This was a continuous choice he made to openly express his opinions towards certain aspects of America.
During an exclusive NFL media interview, Kaepernick stated “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color… To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
The right to exercise free speech, as given to all Americans under the First Amendment, is an idea that should not be handled lightly. This stance taken by Kaepernick was among one of the most influential political moves made by an athlete to date.
There are a multitude of different opinions that people hold on this issue. Some feel that it was unprofessional, while others argue that given the freedom of speech, and the rules that the NFL enforces for players, that this action was fully within his rights. This poses the question: do people believe politics have any place in sports?
“I don’t think that fans want it. I don’t think they want to turn the game on and get accosted by politics. So I don’t know that there’s really anything wrong with the players bringing politics into sports, but I just don’t think the fans want it. I think that you saw that with the Colin Kaepernick thing. They just want to turn the TV on and watch the game,” said U.S. History teacher Mark McKay.
Colin Kaepernick was a key player, leading the movement of athletes advocating for their political views, specifically taking action through the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and kneeling during the National Anthem. In the 2016 NFL Season and Preseason, over 40 players knelt or raised their fists during the playing of the national anthem to show their support for Black Americans.
Many believe that this led to Kaepernick’s blackballing from the league. Another player who was heavily involved with this situation, and was also the first player to kneel alongside Kaepernick, was Eric Reid. Reid was a safety for the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers. In his rookie season (2013), he became a pro bowler at the age of 22. He chose to join in with Kaepernick in the 2016 movement. Soon thereafter, he was released from the 49ers, and joined the Panthers, where he would have two more semi-productive seasons. Kaepernick has gone on record to say that he believes Reid was also blackballed from the league, much like him.
Commonly known as the greatest basketball player of all time, 14-time NBA All-Star athlete Lebron James is another player known for never backing down when it comes to politics. In a famous incident in 2018, James and fellow players expressed their opinions about former president Donald Trump during an ESPN interview.
Following the airing of this interview, Fox News reporter Laura Ingraham made a statement in reference to Lebron’s political expression: “It’s always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball… Keep the political comments to yourselves. … Shut up and dribble.”
There are opposing views on whether or not athletes should talk about politics at all. There are continuous debates circling the professionalism of political talk in a sports setting.
“I think [political discussions] distract from the sport itself, but I think it’s absolutely fine. It’s just free people using a platform that’s available to them to express their views. What they do is say this: ‘Will this work for me, or will it not work for me?’” said History teacher Lewis Stevens.
Some individuals believe that you have the right to speak your mind; however, you’re doing it at the risk of your own public indictment.
“Everybody wants to be heard, you know? In society, it seems like most people get really frustrated when their ideas or their thoughts aren’t kind of respected or heard. If you’re willing to deal with any negative consequences that might come from it, then, yeah, speak up. Do whatever you think is right. Far be it for me to say, ‘I don’t think you should have done that,’” said World History teacher William Russell.