Mariah Carey Subtly Drags NFL With Colin Kaepernick Shoutout
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After the NFL aired a TV spot during the Super Bowl on Sunday touting its own commitment to fighting systemic racism, Mariah Carey did not waste a second in offering her own two cents.
The legendary singer quickly tweeted a note to followers, wishing them a “Happy Colin Kaepernick Appreciation Day!”
Happy Colin Kaepernick Appreciation Day!
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) February 8, 2021
Carey sent her tweet just moments after Super Bowl viewers saw an advertisement from the NFL’s Inspire Change campaign that emphasized the importance of social justice. The ad’s imagery included footage of the ongoing national protests against police brutality and racial inequality, alongside snapshots of players wearing the names of victims of police brutality on their helmets and kneeling on the field.
While our season is ending, our fight for equity is not.
It takes all of us to create change and advance social justice.
Learn more at https://t.co/1n7GSdNDx6. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/NdKd8JkW1W— Inspire Change (@InspireChange) February 8, 2021
The ad, which appeared to have the primary intention of reminding the public that the NFL said last year it would “commit a quarter of a billion dollars over 10 years to a fund to combat systemic racism and support the battle against injustices faced by African Americans,” struck a chord with viewers who immediately noted the hypocrisy.
Many people mentioned Kaepernick ― the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who notably knelt during the performance of the national anthem in protest of racial injustice and police brutality ― and said he was owed an apology for being effectively blacklisted from the NFL after opting out of his contract with the 49ers in 2017. He has not played professionally since.
Soon, Kaepernick’s name was trending on Twitter:
In that Inspire Change commercial, the NFL forgot to show the part where they blackballed Colin Kaepernick, have only 3 black NFL head coaches and no majority black ownership.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 8, 2021
NFL running ads about racism and social justice without so much as a nod to the man who took a knee 4 years ago and was blackballed by the very same NFL. Gutless. #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/OPbjFVOU59
— Christian Christensen (@ChrChristensen) February 8, 2021
The NFL ads about their commitment to social justice are missing an apology to Colin Kaepernick.
— Melanie D'Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) February 8, 2021
Shouldn’t any NFL ad bragging about their work to end systemic racism start with an apology to Colin Kaepernick?
— Tim Fullerton (@TimFullerton) February 8, 2021
The NFL would rather donate $250,000,000 to end systemic racism than hire Colin Kaepernick
— gianmarco (@GianmarcoSoresi) February 8, 2021
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about Kaepernick last week.
“I said very clearly back in June that we wish we had listened to our players earlier, and we had a lot of players that were coming and bringing these issues to us,” Goodell said at a Feb. 4 press conference, per The Mercury News. “It didn’t start last summer; it started over two years ago and we’ve been working with the Players Coalition over that period of time.”
He went on to call Kaepernick “one of the individuals who obviously brought a great deal of attention to this, and, for that, he deserves our recognition for that and appreciation.”
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.