Sports

NBC Analyst Says Colin Kaepernick Isn’t Black

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Ford Springer Reporter
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NBC Football analyst and former NFL safety Rodney Harrison made it clear that Colin Kaepernick isn’t in the position to stand up (or sit down) for black people, in an interview Tuesday morning on a Houston radio show.

The radio show hosts asked Harrison for his thoughts on Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem and, specifically, how much the messenger matters versus the message. Apparently, the messenger matters quite a lot, according to Harrison.

Harrison started by saying, “obviously [Kaepernick] has a right to stand up for what he believes,” although he disagrees with the San Francisco quarterback’s methods.

Rodney Harrison played for both the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots while in the NFL. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Rodney Harrison played for both the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots while in the NFL. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Kaepernick “doesn’t understand the injustices as a black man, or people of color,” Harrison continued before claiming that Kaepernick isn’t even black:

“I tell you this, I’m a black man. And Colin Kaepernick, he’s not black. He cannot understand what I face and what other young black men and black people face, or people of color face, on a every single (day) basis. When you walk in a grocery store, and you might have $2,000 or $3,000 in your pocket and you go up in to a Foot Locker and they’re looking at you like you about to steal something.”

After the hosts asked Harrison to clarify, he said that he believes Kaepernick’s “heart is in the right place,” but “he still doesn’t understand that we face as a black man or people of color, that’s what I’m saying.”

Harrison has since apologized on Twitter, and apparently didn’t realize that Kaepernick is mixed race, Deadspin pointed out. Although the NBC analyst has covered the quarterback for his entire NFL career.