After a day of NFL acts of protests during season-opening national anthems and last week’s comments from the Ravens’ Benjamin Watson, the Orioles’ Adam Jones talked to USA Today about the gesture from the baseball perspective.
Jones told reporter Bob Nightengale that he respects Colin Kaepernick’s actions in kneeling for the national anthem, and that he is “showing that he doesn’t like the social injustice that the flag represents.”
He said he sees a lot of people who don’t pay attention to the Star Spangled Banner and don’t know the words.
“They stand because they’re told to stand. That’s the problem. Just don’t do something because you’re told to do something. Do it because you understand the meaning behind it and the sacrifice behind it,” he said.
On Sunday, four players with the Miami Dolphins took a knee during the anthem, while the Kansas City Chiefs’ Marcus Peters and Patriots’ Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty raised their fists.
Jones was blunt about why he believes it hasn’t happened in baseball.
“We already have two strikes against us already, so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can’t kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don’t need us…Baseball is a white man’s sport.’’
Read the full article, with more Jones quotes.
