Jaguars and Ravens blast President Donald Trump for 'taking a crap' on the NFL
The NFL came to London on Sunday and the players of the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars came together, many angered by president Donald Trump’s sensational attack on players who kneel at the national anthem.
Trump had challenged the league’s owners to release any player who engages in the movement, started last year by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in protest at what he deems to be wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States.
At a rally in Alabama on Friday, Trump said: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!”
They may have been over 3,600 miles from Washington DC, yet players from both the Jaguars and Ravens were keen to send a message to the White House.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan – who had donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund – stood on the sideline and linked arms with his players in a show of unity and defiance.
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In the locker room after their 44-7 victory, Jaguars wide receiver Marqise Lee, said Trump’s comments “put the NFL in a terrible position” and that is was “taking a crap on the NFL”.
Lee, who had four receptions for 65 yards in the rout, added: “Man, his comments are crazy. It is horrible. It has put us in a terrible position, it really has.
“It is what it is – a stupid comment, I can honestly say that. I stood today, but I wrapped arms. I wanted to kneel, but I didn’t, because the players around me were standing.
“I respect those who are taking a knee and I’m not going to say that I won’t take a knee. Who knows, probably next week I will take one. But his comments were very wrong – it disrespects the whole league.
“We knew it was crazy when he first got elected – we knew it was going to be bad, and that’s basically what he is showing us right now. He is pulling things to the ground.
“But people just have to stick together – that’s the main thing. And today, for those who were taking a knee, linking arms was to show we were all together as one, and support each other.
“Shad Khan coming down to support us was big – most players think they are down there alone. To have the owner come down and make a stand, you know this is big. It means it is the whole organisation is behind you. The NFL is behind you.
“When you think of what the likes of J.J. Watt has done for the hurricane victims in Houston – he went out of his way to do so much and that is stuff you just have to respect. To turn around and take a crap on the NFL is a problem – it is a problem. And it is going to continue to be a problem. It won’t be the last time he does it.”
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Ravens’ wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was equally vocal in his condemnation of the president.
He added: “It is an unfortunate situation. It is a time where everyone in this country needs to come together: white, black, it doesn’t matter what your race is.
“It is unfortunate that the leader of this country doesn’t necessarily see it that way. That is the unfortunate part, but as citizens of the United States, we have to all come together.
“I did not take a knee today. What people fail to realise that this ground we walk on was built on protest and you have to respect the fact that people protest for what they believe is right – peacefully. The right to protest is in the constitution. I chose not to do it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t agree with it.”
Jacksonville’s cornerback A.J. Bouye said that “it meant a lot” that Khan had stood with the players before the game.
He added: “I’m not going to lie. I was pissed off last night for the simple fact that I don’t know the president as a man, just like he doesn’t know us as men and it holds close to home with me because for the simple fact what you say about us, you’re disrespecting or mothers.
“I lost my mother to cancer. My stepmother came in, I know she’s not what he’s calling her. She got a doctorate from Ohio State.
“When you’re five years old and you’re seeing your dad have a gun pointed at his head because he looks suspicious in the neighbourhood at 6am because he’s dropping his son off at a babysitter, it’s not about race. It’s not about black and white, it’s about right and wrong.
“I have respect for the military. I have family in the military. I know we are in a military town in Jacksonville. I love all the people that go out there and fight for our country. I love the family members, the brothers, the sisters, the mothers, the fathers, the sons, the daughters. Those are at home not knowing what’s going to happen to their family members, but I also have respect for those people, whether they’re black, white, Mexican, whatever, who done lost their child or somebody else to a police officer. And that’s what it’s all about.
“This is not about pointing fingers, calling somebody right or wrong, or calling somebody racist or whatever. At the end of the day. We’ve just got to be out here and just love everybody. That’s what it’s all about, and I’m tired of it. I really am tired of it.”
