Colin Kaepernick. Eric Reid.
What do those two have in common? Not only that the two were very talented teammates with the San Francisco 49ers, but that the two seemingly are being blackballed from being signed to a team in the NFL after kneeling for the national anthem and speaking out against social and racial injustices in America.
2x Superbowl champion Chris Long has been one of the most outspoken players in the NFL in the last four years as he stands with his brothers in the NFL who he feels is not being treated fairly in the NFL.
During his conversation with Ebro in the Morning he discussed how both players deserve jobs in the NFL.
“It drives you nuts,” he said. “What they are able to do is, people that defend it are saying – a. it’s the hardest thing to prove – that it is a football reason. You know people argue Colin can’t play anymore. Then there are people in support of Colin who will say that he is a top 5 quarterback, which he is not. But he’s also not a bum dude, he’s a good player.”
He later said.
“It’s very clear to me. If you’re going to argue with me that Colin shouldn’t have a job because you’re not good enough for football, I’m like ok stop.” You can make the argument that Colin is not a top-5 quarterback anymore, but he should have a job, and Eric [Reid] should have a job.”
He then shared how being outspoken about his support for Kaepernick nearly derailed his career.
“I was one of the first guys to speak up for Colin when I got to New England,” he said. “So I came out of summer and got on the radio with my buddy [Ryan] Rusillo and I talked about it on ESPN. It blew up a little bit. And then I get to free agency, and I had two pretty bad years when I left St. Louis. I was a really good player for a long time, but I had two bad years because of injuries so I got cut, and I go to New England, kind of revive myself. Win the super bowl. I hit the market. I didn’t get a single call until late April I called the Eagles ‘I still want to play football.’”
In summary:
“After I left St. Louis with all that bad injured tape I got six calls. A year later after I had a pretty good year in New England I got no calls.”
In 12 games in 2015 with the St. Louis Rams, Long had 9 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 forced fumble. In 2016 after getting cut and signing with the Patriots, Long played 16 games and recorded 22 tackles, 4 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
As for the owners, he is just looking for some transparancy instead of telling players and media that they won’t be signed due to football reasons. With a proposal that could allow owners to write their own rules regarding player protests it could change decisions made by players into their team destinations.
“Stop hiding,” he said. “Then at least we will know where you stand.”
Long also discussed his controversial Kanye West tweet in which he did not get to elaborate how he felt.
twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/989245490599550979
“I never felt let down by Kanye, because I never put stock into Kanye’s political leanings.”
The defensive end has been out on the field helping those in need using various charity platforms. He gave the first six game checks of the season to provide scholarships to two strudents from the Boys and Girls Club in Charlottesville.
He also has the About Pledge 10 For Tomorrow and Waterboys campaigns to raise funds and awareness to provide clean water wells to East African communities in need. Visit here for more information about the initives.
Watch the full conversation below.