Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman slammed anthem protester Eric Reid’s criticism of Malcolm Jenkins as a “slap in the face,” and said that Reid has it wrong with his attacks, according to Pro Football Talk.
During last Sunday’s game, Reid, the newly minted Carolina Panther, confronted Philadelphia Eagles Malcolm Jenkins on the fired calling Jenkins a “sellout”and a “neo-colonialist” for his effort in 2017 to work with the NFL to get the league to pony up $89 million for social justice spending.
Reid apparently took issue with Jenkins for offering the league a way to end the player protests during the national anthem, but Reid was also critical of Jenkins’ negotiations with the NFL because anthem protest inventor Colin Kaepernick was not included in the talks.
But the Skins’ Norman thinks that Reid’s criticism is off base. Norman now says that he has tried to call Reid on the phone many times this week, but Reid has not returned his calls.
“To hear Eric come out and do what he did, it’s almost like, wow, that was a slap in the face because Malcolm has been nothing but stand up in the Players Coalition,” Norman said Thursday. “Nothing but stand up, and everyone knows that.”
Norman also said he could not understand Reid’s attacks on the player coalition. The Redskins player insists that the coalition is doing “real work every week” all around the country.
“You get a call, you’re going to show up at awards shows and stuff? Come on man,” Norman said of Reid’s refusal to join the coalition with their outreach efforts. “But you don’t want to come out and help what we’re trying to do at the Players Coalition? I don’t know, you tell me if that’s not somebody’s agenda. I just don’t get it.”
“We’re all trying to go in the direction of helping people,” Norman added. “That is the main objective here. It’s not who gets this award; it’s not a parade here.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.