LaDainian Tomlinson said Wednesday that the NFL’s treatment of Colin Kaepernick was a “black eye” on the league.
“It’s unfortunate and it’s sad and it’s a black eye on our league, no question about it, what happened to Kaepernick not being able to get a job,” Tomlinson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Drew Davison. “I think now people are starting to appreciate what he did and they’re understanding of why he did what he did even though at the time he was telling us what he was doing it for.”
The former NFL running back discussed the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick as protests continue across the country following the death of George Floyd, who was murdered on camera by a Minneapolis cop who kept his knee on his neck for eight minutes.
Floyd can be heard on a video recording of the incident saying, “I can’t breathe,” multiple times.
“I’m just glad people are not turning a blind eye. I’m happy they’re not saying this is just one incident and that’s a bad cop,” Tomlinson told Davison. “I’m glad people are not doing that. We need true police reform. We need justice reform. We need criminal justice reform. We need all of these things.”
Kaepernick began to kneel during the pre-game national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and racial injustice. As a result, he has basically been blackballed from the league as no team as signed him since that season.
Tomlinson retired in 2011 with over 13,000 career rushing yards and 145 rushing touchdowns.
