NFL head coach Pete Carroll said Colin Kaepernick’s statement got “ripped apart,” calling his decision to kneel an “extraordinary moment.”
Carroll, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich shared their thoughts on Kaepernick during Tuesday’s episode of the “Flying Coach” podcast hosted by The Ringer.
On their latest podcast, Pete Carroll and Steve Kerr were joined by Gregg Popovich to discuss George Floyd’s death, race relations in America and possible actions for change, including increased racism education. https://t.co/h2sXYaGxAi
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) June 3, 2020
Carroll, head coach of the Seahawks, called Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the National Anthem to protest police brutality an “extraordinary moment.”
“I think that there was a moment in time that a young man captured,” Carroll said. “He took a stand on something, figuratively took a knee, but he stood up for something he believed in — and what an extraordinary moment it was that he was willing to take.” (RELATED: Colin Kaepernick Responds To Death Of George Floyd)
“… But what happened from the process is it elevated awareness from people that just took everything away from what the statement was all about, and it just got tugged and pulled and ripped apart,” he added.
“And the whole mission of what the statement was, such a beautiful … it’s still the statement that we’re making right today,” Carroll said. “We’re not protecting our people. We’re not looking after one another. We’re not making the right choices. We’re not following the right process to bring people to justice when actions are taken. So I think it was a big sacrifice in the sense that a young man makes, but those are the courageous moments that some guys take.”
“And we owe a tremendous amount to him for sure,” Carroll later added.
“To me, it’s really hard to look at what’s going on right now with all the violence and the protests and not look back to four years ago and say, ‘Look, this guy [Kaepernick] was trying to peacefully protest and nothing came of it,” Kerr said. “The killings went on and nothing changed and he was actually ridiculed, so it’s a real tough one to think about.”