Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t hesitate when asked whether he’ll kneel during the national anthem this season.
“Yeah, I’ll be kneeling,” said Murray, echoing similar sentiments shared by fellow players Adrian Peterson and Baker Mayfield and Texans coach Bill O’Brien, among others, in recent weeks. “I stand for what’s right and that’s the bottom line. I call it like I see it, and what’s been going on is completely wrong, so I’ll definitely be taking a knee.”
Murray, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, had very little patience for an Instagram user who took issue with him and others planning to kneel during the 2020 season.
“You people are overpaid crybabies have fun watching your ratings tank with this kneeling nonsense,” the IG user said.
Murray’s reply: “You think I give a fuck?”
“I don’t really care what anybody thinks about me, never have, but I know a lot of people that do,” Murray said. “And for me being a black man in America, if it’s wrong I’m gonna say it’s wrong. I feel like personally, it’s on everybody to hold each other accountable. But more so, for me, if you’re white and you got white friends that feel this certain type of way or don’t understand what’s going on, it’s on you to educate them, as well as black, Hispanic, any other ethnicity.
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“If you have any racist friends, it’s on you to stop that immediately and let them know why that’s not right, or what’s wrong with the way they think or just opening their eyes and allowing them to understand what’s wrong with their thought process because, to be honest, I mean, we’re all human. And I feel like we should all be treated equally. I don’t get the debate on why everyone should be treated equally because of their skin color. It doesn’t make sense to me, but it is what it is right now. We’re trying to fix that.”
“We’re so diverse,” Murray said. “We know what racism is, but I feel like there’s not a lot of it in my generation. I know that generations above me and my parents’ generation, there’s a lot of racism. Whether they’re willing to believe it or not, there is.
“There’s a lot of hate in this world but at the same time, I think that what’s happening, what we’re seeing right now is huge, just because I feel like — all the rioting obviously, I don’t condone the rioting and stuff like that — but the peaceful protests, I think they’re amazing. I think what everything’s going on is amazing. And I think that’s just the start of it.”
There’s no more holding back, he said.
“I feel like now, more than ever, people can just say what they want to say,” Murray said. “Before what we saw with his death, I feel like we had to beat around the bush and kind of just straddle the line and say the politically correct thing. And now I feel like holding everybody accountable and say whatever was on your chest, say what’s on your mind, I think that’s the best thing for the world to be honest because now people realize the effect that everything that’s been going on in the black communities.
“It’s been going on for hundreds of years and everybody knows it but it’s always been just kind of a deal we just look past and just act like what … there’s always been this elephant in the room, but at the end of the day now I feel like there is change coming and I feel like, me especially, I stand for what’s right, I always have. Regardless of my skin color, if it’s right it’s right. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. It’s not hard to see. And what’s been happening is definitely wrong.”
