Colin Kaepernick was briefly named during NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s Super Bowl LV press conference on Thursday ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs’ clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Amid the NFL’s heightened awareness of social justice issues, Goodell said he was ‘grateful’ that the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback made a concern when he did so 4 years ago.
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“I said very clearly in June that we wish we had listened to our players earlier, and that we had many players who would bring these issues to us,” he told reporters via Mercury News. “It did not start last summer; it started more than two years ago and we worked with the Players Coalition during that time.”
Goodell added: “Colin was one of the individuals who obviously brought a lot of attention to this, and for that he deserves our recognition and appreciation for it.”
Goodell expressed remorse over the summer for not listening to Kaepernick earlier when he knelt down during the national anthem to raise awareness of racial injustice and police brutality.
COLIN KAEPERNICK BILLBOARDS, MURAL COURSE IN ADVANCE FROM SUPERBAK LV
“I wish we had listened earlier, Kaep, to what you knelt down and what you wanted to draw attention to,” he told FOX Sports’ Emmanuel Acho in August. “We invited him several times to have the conversation, to have the dialogue. I wish we had the benefit of it; we never did. We would have absolutely benefited from it.”
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, the NFL and Goodell released a video statement saying, “Black Lives Matter.”
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Kaepernick may not appear on the field at the Super Bowl, but his presence is felt by the Tampa, Florida, area. Ben & Jerry’s put up billboards with the ex – quarterback’s face to promote his activism.