Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who began kneeling during the national anthem during the 2016 preseason, responded to the NFL’s new anthem policy by retweeting a pair of messages from a CNN legal commentator.
The policy requires players to show respect for the anthem, but allows them to stay in the locker room if they do not wish to stand.
Mark Geragos, a lawyer who is a CNN legal commentator, wrote the tweets that Kaepernick retweeted to his followers.
#nflcollusion https://t.co/R1c5Mdqqg6
— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) May 23, 2018
The tweet included a link to ESPN‘s article about the new policy with the caption “#nflcollusion.”
Kaepernick, as well as former teammate Eric Reid, have filed grievances against the league for allegedly colluding against them to blackball them from the league.
Geragos’s second tweet was a link to a Cornell Law School webpage.
Winning! https://t.co/qTUh3LJNxR
— Mark Geragos (@markgeragos) May 24, 2018
The webpage’s title is “18 U.S. Code § 227 – Wrongfully influencing a private entity’s employment decisions by a Member of Congress or an officer or employee of the legislative or executive branch” and it outlines the definition of the law.
According to the description, a member of the legislative or executive branch is not legally allowed to try to influence a private company “solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation, an employment decision or employment practice.”
The penalty for violating 18 U.S. Code § 227 could be a fine or imprisonment for a maximum of 15 years, or both, and may be disqualified from holding office.
Geragos’ caption on this tweet was “Winning!” which is a reference to Vice President Mike Pence’s tweet in regards to the new league policy.
#Winning pic.twitter.com/aEJOCmB5lW
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) May 23, 2018
Kaepernick sat out this past season after not being signed in during the 2017 offseason. It remains unclear if he’ll be given another chance to prove he belongs in the NFL.
