As a famous promotional motto pronounces: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything”.
Just in case you do not know the originals of this story, let’s talk about Colin Kaepernick, the American football player who opted not to stand for the national anthem during a game because of his views on the country’s treatment of racial minorities.
It all began in the August of 2016, when Kaepernick had been seen sitting during the national anthem before the 49 ers preseason game.
After the game he told in front of the camera “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.”
Kaepernick also told NFL Media that he had thought about going public with his feelings for a while but that “I felt that I needed to understand the situation better.”
He joined team sports athletes including Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Carlos Delgado in refusing to participate during patriotic American songs. Abdul-Rauf was suspended one game by the NBA in 1996 for not standing during the national anthem, saying the United States had a history of tyranny and doing so would conflict with his Islamist beliefs.
He later agreed to stand and pray silently during the song. Delgado would leave the field in 2004 during “God Bless America” in protest of the Iraq War.
A few days later, he decided to kneel instead instead of sit to show more respect for former members of military.
Immediately, the silent complaint has become really popular, Kaepernick has started to receive several death threats so that he finally decided to cancel the contract with the 49ers in the March of 2017 and test out a free agency.
But while many of his colleagues inked deals in free agency as well, Kaepernick was the only one without a job.
The things got the worst in September of 2017, when the U.S.A. President Donald Trump made the decision to come into the issue in speech made during a rally in Alabama: “When you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespect our flag, get that son of a bitc* off the field right no”.
Immediately after Trump’s declarations, a huge number of players promptly joined Kaepernick’s protests, despite the perennial lack of job offers for him.
The last news about Kaepernick’s case regars the decision of an external arbitrator, who has denied the NFL’ request to dismiss Kaepernick’s action because of the lack of evidence to send the case to a full hearing.
Colin Kaepernick’s story has achieved so much popularity that he has become the symbol of the new #JustDoIt Nike campaigns.
#SportValues #GetVal #Sacrifice