Tuesday, Fox Sports 1 “Undisputed” co-host Shannon Sharpe responded to Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross telling New York Daily News that his players will stand for the National Anthem in 2018 because he finds the protest to be disrespectful to the country and military.
Sharpe said Ross is falling into the “trap” set by other NFL owners, who shifted the narrative of Colin Kaepernick’s initial protest to being about the military because they did not like the message.
“I’m disappointed in Stephen Ross,” stated Sharpe. “Stephen Ross is falling into the trap that many Americans have fallen into, Skip. Rather than backing his players, he’s backing the coverage in which the players have received. Where is that outrage that he has for his players kneeling in protest of the police killing unarmed black men and women? Where is that outrage to fix the problem?”
He continued, “You see, what this is, Skip, the message did not change. Colin Kaepernick, and anybody that has kneeled, never said anything about the military. As a matter of fact, they have gone out of their way. They have the utmost and profound respect for the military. I don’t know how — I do know how. What happened was, Skip, is that the issue that they were protesting, a lot of Americans didn’t like, a lot of NFL owners didn’t like, so they shift the narrative to make it about the military, to make it about the flag, to make it about the veterans when it was never, ever about that. They know that. Where is the military killing unarmed black men and women?”
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