Steelers LT Alejandro Villanueva: Colin Kaepernick needs to look at 'big picture'

Did he go about it the wrong way?.... That's an opinion people can have whether it was a bad thing to do or folks understand his reasoning. We all have to acknowledge the man has the right to not stand for the anthem. He never served so he WILL NOT have the same views as us. Folks are losing sleep over this and I don't know why because he's not affecting any of us.

People always listen to respond instead of listening to understand. Bottom line truth. We all see what's going on in the world today with innocent people whether it's black or white people are getting put down in the streets from cops who probably shouldn't have been given a badge and a gun and the way he's protesting may have been the only way he could get the message out because 1). He's in the NFL so you can assume majority of the American population watch football 2.) He was once one the most popular players in the league. Whatever he's doing is working because you got folks bashing him and calling him the "n" word saying someone should put a bullet in his head and it's sad that folks want to defend the constitution, but want to kill someone and bring out the derogatory terms when they are simply exercising their rights. And people are pissed because he's not exercising his rights the way people want him to it's crazy.

Whether we like it or not he can kneel as much as he pleases. But just by me saying this I'm pretty sure people are going to say I'm not better than he is and maybe I'll start getting death threats and being called the "n" word. People show their true colors when they're mad, especially at things they can't control.

MAJ (Join to see)
As someone in the spotlight because of his career he should have a social responsibility to do more than just sit down during the anthem. I think it is the wrong move because it is an empty protest. As other people have pointed out what is he really doing to help the racial issues in this country. Has he donated money? Started a foundation, worked himself with youth? No he's just sitting and making a lot of money still doing so. He has the ability with his platform to change many lives, it may not be a huge change, but every little bit counts towards the bigger picture. The National Anthem will always be something special to me and I cannot imagine sitting it out.

Kaepernick has the right to protest without beinng punished by the government. He does not have a right to protest without beigg tried in the court of public opinion because freedom of speech is our right too. His team has the right to fire him for political speech in public if they have a policy. Many civilian employers have stated policies against political speech at work and for social media posts that could reflect badly on the employer. Those policies have been found to be perfectly legal. The bill pf rights covers rights the governement cannot infringe on. When you work for a private employer you must follow their rules. (As long as they don't violate the law such as discrimination rules)