The Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate to the Chicago Cubs, took a swipe at former NFL player Colin Kaepernick for his attacks on the “Betsy Ross Flag,” but soon deleted the social media post and apologized.
The “Betsy Ross Flag” sneakers, also known as Air Max 1, were supposed to be a celebration of American independence intended to coincide with the 4th of July celebrations. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Nike decided to ditch the shoes after former NFL anthem-protester and Nike pitchman Colin Kaepernick raised concerns about the Betsy Ross flag evoking painful memories of a “connection to slavery.”
With that story ringing in the news, the Tennessee Smokies jumped to Twitter to take a swing at Kaepernick for dissing America, NBC Chicago reported.
The team posted images of the ground crew embedding a U.S. flag into the infield dirt and added a caption reading, “Hey Kaepernick, after a lot of thought, we have decided it’s best to just do it.”
Naturally, the tweet brought a slew of replies, both in favor of the team’s swipe at Kaepernick and those in favor of Kaepernick’s anti-American stance.
It wasn’t long before the team deleted the tweet and apologized.
“Regarding one of our recent tweets regarding @Kaepernick7 and our field design for tonight’s game, it was meant to be a light-hearted take on a current situation. We did not mean to offend anyone by it. If it did, we certainly apologize,” the team said in apology.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.