The Rush: Sharpton, Jenkins, others say Kaepernick should be given a job by the NFL
George Floyd’s memorial service was held in his hometown of Houston, Texas and several current and former Texans’ players and coaches attended including J.J. Watt, D.J. Reader, and Bill O’Brien. Al Sharpton spoke at the service and called out the NFL, saying apologies aren’t enough and that Colin Kaepernick should be given his job back. Several players like Malcolm Jenkins and Matt Ryan echoed Sharpton’s message. In the NBA, the Knicks finally released a statement on the social movement sweeping the nation and it was more than a little underwhelming, while Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban has been calling for people to have uncomfortable conversations about white privilege. Damien Lillard dropped a new track called ‘Blacklist.’ NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace wants Confederate flags removed from race events and will drive an all-black, ‘Black Lives Matter’ car in tonight’s race at Martinsville.
Video Transcript
AL SHARPTON: Head of the NFL said, yeah, maybe we was wrong. Football players, maybe they did have the right to peacefully protest. Well, don't apologize. Give Colin Kaepernick a job back.
JARED QUAY: That was Al Sharpton at the memorial service for George Floyd in Houston, which was attended by a number of current and former Texas players, including JJ Watt, and DJ Reader, and head coach Bill O'Brien. Sharpton called for more than just an apology from Roger Goodell and the NFL for derailing Colin Kaepernick's career.
AL SHARPTON: Don't come with some empty apology. Take a man's livelihood. Strip a man down of his talents. And we don't want an apology. We want him repaid.
JARED QUAY: And Sharpton wasn't the only one. Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins and Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan echoed similar sentiments.
MALCOLM JENKINS: I still don't think they've gotten it right. Until they apologize specifically to Colin Kaepernick or sign him to a team, I don't think that they'll end up on the right side of history.
MATT RYAN: As far as Colin being back in the league, I think he should have every opportunity to.
JARED QUAY: And while we've been treated to great talents like Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman, I, for one, would love to see Colin Kaepernick back where he belongs. And while it may be four years too late, it's a step in the right direction.
Speaking of the right direction, James Dolan and the Knicks are moving in the opposite route. They have been silent on the protests until yesterday, when the team released a 35-word memo that didn't even say, Black Lives Matter. No wonder y'all don't get no good draft picks.
Then you got the polar opposite with the Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, who is encouraging people to have uncomfortable conversations about race and white privilege. So one hand, you got an owner that's trying to do as little as possible. On the other hand, you've got an owner that's asking himself and others to do some serious soul searching. You tell me which team you'd rather play for. I know, for one, it wouldn't be the guy trying to be a musician.
[MUSIC - JD & THE STRAIGHT SHOT, "BETTER FIND A CHURCH"']
Light of a sinner's move.
JARED QUAY: And if there was someone in the NBA to be a music superstar, it would be Dame Lillard, who just released a new track called, "Blacklist."
[MUSIC - DAME D.O.L.L.A., "BLACKLIST"]
As a brother with a good heart, I say, [BLEEP] you, if you racist, OR white staying quiet, you disabling the changes.
JARED QUAY: I don't know how Dame is finding the time. He's an NBA superstar. He's speaking at protests and dropping bars. Yo, the man is a machine. From a machine on the court to a machine on the track, NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, has an idea for the next step to bring positive change to NASCAR.
BUBBA WALLACE: My next step would be to get rid of all Confederate flags. No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race. So it starts with Confederate flags. Get them out of here. They have no place for them.
JARED QUAY: And he's not stopping there. Wallace's car for tonight's race in Martinsville will be all black with the words, Black Lives Matter. Just to drive home-- no pun intended-- how big of a deal this is, there have been 2,955 drivers to start a race in NASCAR history, and only eight of them have been black.
- What?
JARED QUAY: To break it down, that's 0.27% of black drivers to start a race. You know how small that is? 0.27 is the amount of questions I got wrong on my ACT. That's a very small number, guys.