To show he is no fan of Colin Kaepernick, the owner of a mattress store in suburban Chicago put the player’s jersey on the floor of his store and urges patrons to walk all over it.
For weeks, the San Franciso 49ers second-string quarterback has kept his name in the news over his claim that the U.S.A. is too “racist” to be worthy of respect by standing at attention for the playing of the national anthem.
But the owner of the south suburban store, Dave Gerwing, begs to differ and is taking action to prove it.
“People have made the ultimate sacrifice. They have died for our freedoms. Sitting down on your butt is nothing more than a disservice and disrespect to the people fighting for our rights,” Germwing told Chicago’s CBS affiliate.
The store owner added, “Does he have the right to protest? Absolutely. The same way I have the right to put his jersey on the floor.”
Gerwing is using the player’s number 7 jersey as a doormat right at the store’s entrance giving patrons little choice but to walk on it as they enter.
This has nothing to do with race, Gerwing warns.
“This is not a race issue for me,” the store owner said. “If this were Eli Manning doing this, his jersey would be on the floor right now as well.”
In the end, the retailer said that while the country has problems, “it’s pretty, pretty good, if you ask me.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.