Veteran broadcaster Bob Costas weighed in on the National Anthem NFL protest debate, saying that patriotism is about more than just standing up for the “Star-Spangled Banner.” “Dissidents are patriots,” the NBC commentator told CNN, adding that patriotism “comes in many forms.”
Costas also said you can’t split race from the protest because of what it was rooted in, a protest against police brutality and the treatment of African Americans.
“Martin Luther King was a patriot. Susan B Anthony was a patriot. Dissidents are patriots. Schoolteachers and social workers are patriots,” Costas said.
He added that patriotism is not just about respecting the men and women who fight in the military, but that has been what it is most closely associated with now.
“Patriotism comes in many forms and what has happened is it’s been conflated with a bumper-style kind of flag-waving and with the military only so that people cannot see that in his own way Colin Kaepernick, however imperfectly, is doing a patriotic thing,” Costas told CNN. “And so too are some of these other players.”
He added, “The idea that you can separate this from race is preposterous.”
At the beginning of his interview, Costas noted that no one within the NFL, including owners who donated to Trump’s campaign and inauguration committee, were supportive of Trump’s statements. He noted that the president “galvanized” all players in the NFL. Before Trump’s comments, only a handful of players protested during the National Anthem, but over 200 protested this weekend.
Even during his weekly morning radio interview, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady told WEEI that he disagreed with Trump’s comments. Brady didn’t kneel, but he did stand with his arms linked with other teammates.
“Yeah, I certainly disagree with what he said. I thought it was just divisive,” Brady told WEEI. “Like I said, I just want to support my teammates. I am never one to say, ‘Oh, that is wrong. That is right.’ I do believe in what I believe in. I believe in bringing people together and respect and love and trust. Those are the values that my parents instilled in me. That is how I try and live every day. I have been blessed to be in locker rooms with guys all over the United States over the course of my career. Some of my great friends are from Florida, Virginia, New York, Montana, Colorado, Texas. The one thing about football is it brings so many guys together — guys you would never have the opportunity to be around. Whether it was in college, and all the way into the pros. We’re all different, we’re all unique. That is what makes us all special.”
During a speech on Friday in Alabama, Trump said he would like to see NFL players fired by owners if they refused to stand for the National Anthem. He referred to these players as a “son of a bitch.” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin then suggested the NFL enact a rule that forces NFL players to stand for the anthem.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the anthem before the 2016 season as a protest against police brutality. Although Kaepernick is still an un-signed free agent, no player has been fired for not standing.
Comments
WATCH: Bob Costas on National Anthem Debate: ‘Dissidents are Patriots’