*Shaquille O’Neal sat down with Fox & Friends on Wednesday to confess that he’s part of the growing list of athletes who disagree with Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback has refused to stand for the National Anthem in objection to the oppression and social injustice for people of color in America.
“To each his own. It’s something I wouldn’t do,” Shaq said. “His comments were there’s injustices, there’s always been injustices. Me personally I would probably go about it a different way. My question is, what happened last year? How come you didn’t decide to do this last year, or the year before that, or the year before that?”
Shaq’s stance is due in part to his late father who raised him to have respect for the military and law enforcement.
“I don’t know Colin, but again to each his own. I don’t really have a say on it, but I would never do that,” said Shaq. “My father was a military man, and you know, he protected this country. Uncles are in law enforcement, you know, they go out and work hard every day. There’s just other ways to get your point across.”
Shaq said African-Americans can be pro-military and pro-cop, while Kaepernick believes otherwise. The former NBA player went on to continue questioning Colin’s timing.
“My thing is, you have to enter onto the scene one way. People like Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell, they were one way their whole career. You can’t show us something and then go to another just because of certain issues. I’m aware of all the issues, but my question is, how come you didn’t do it last year? How come you didn’t do it when you first entered the NFL?.”
O’Neal said there are “other ways to get your point across.”
READ RELATED STORY: Muhammad Ali’s Ex-Wife on Colin Kaepernick: He Should ‘Get Off His High Horse and Humble Himself’
Meanwhile, Ray Lewis offered his opinion about the situation on Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe’s new Fox Sports 1 show, “Undisputed,” on Thursday morning.
While Lewis admits that he can identify with Kaepernick’s plight, he doesn’t agree with his method.
“I understand what [he’s] trying to do. But take the flag out of it,” said Lewis. “I have uncles, brothers who’ve walked out of my house going into the military that said I will never see you again. To understand that. I will always respect that part of what our patriotism should be.”
He also isn’t sure if the quarterback is sincere about bringing long-term and ongoing change to the black community. “To effect true change of what he’s trying to say, if you don’t have a real solution. If you ain’t seen as a true activist to go into these hoods and do these things on a daily basis and not just jump up and protest one thing because you sick to it,” he continued. “We’ve been sick of racism for 400 plus years.”
Watch Lewis make his statement at approximately 3:30 via the video below:
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
