NFL Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner thinks Texas Senatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke “hit the nail on the head,” when explaining why it’s okay for NFL players to kneel during the anthem.
O’Rourke said during a Houston town hall, “I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up, or take a knee, for your rights, any time, anywhere, in any place.”
Warner urged fans on Twitter to “please listen” to O’Rouke’s message.
“Every past and present fan of NFL – please listen – I believe he hit the nail on the head and he did so not by dividing the 2 sides but by joining them together in realizing the freedoms of our country have been forged by soldiers but also by many others who have fought in diff ways!”
O’Rourke believes that the kneeling players are bringing attention to a major problem in the United States.
“Peaceful, non-violent protests, including taking a knee at a football game to point out that Black men, unarmed, Black teenagers, unarmed and Black children, unarmed, are being killed at a frightening level right now, including by members of law enforcement, without accountability, and without justice,” O’Rouke said.
“And this problem – as grave as it is – is not gonna fix itself and they’re frustrated, frankly, with people like me, and those in positions of public trust and power, who have been unable to resolve this or bring justice for what has been done and to stop it from continuing to happen in this country. And so non-violently, peacefully, while the eyes of this country are watching these games, they take a knee to bring our attention and our focus to this problem to ensure that we fix it. That is why they are doing it.”
O’Rourke’s opponent in the Senate race, incumbent Ted Cruz, disagrees with O’Rourke’s premise that “there is nothing more American” than peacefully protesting during the anthem.
“When Beto O’Rourke says he can’t think of anything more American (than players taking a knee), well I got to tell you, I can,” Cruz told supporters at a campaign rally in Corpus Christi.
President Trump, a frequent critic of the anthem protest movement and perhaps reacting to O’Rouke’s viral video, said at a West Virginia rally Tuesday night: “You’re proud of our country, you’re proud of our history, and unlike the NFL, you always honor and cherish our great American flag. It was just announced by ESPN that rather than defending our anthem, our beautiful, beautiful national anthem and defending our flag, they’ve decided that they just won’t broadcast when they play the national anthem. We don’t like that.”
While it might not shock many that progressives like Golden State Warrior’s coach Steve Kerry and ESPN columnist Jemele Hill, support O’Rourke’s position. It might surprise some that Warner would do so, given the conservative stances he’s taken in the past.
But the former Rams and Cardinals star, who does a tremendous amount of charity work, just wants to bring people together.
He describes himself on his Twitter page as, “A man that’s praying God gets more involved (by preparing and using his people) in bringing LOVE, peace, equality, inclusion, openness and HOPE to our world!”
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