Getty Chicago Bears WR Allen Robinson has had an interesting start to the season.
Chicago Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson spoke to the media via Zoom for the first time now that OTAs have begun, and he had a great deal to talk about, from the team’s response to the killing of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests to the upcoming 2020 season.
Robinson said the Bears have encouraged their players to speak their minds and share their true feelings during these unprecedented times. “We’ve had open dialogue,” Robinson said about the team’s two-hour meeting in which they discussed Floyd’s murder, the recent protests, and anything else they deemed appropriate.
He also brought up former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who protested police brutality in 2016 by taking a knee during the National Anthem before games. Taking a knee eventually led to the NFL essentially blackballing him, but Robinson thinks some people may finally be realizing why Kaepernick was kneeling in the first place.
Follow the Heavy on Bears Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content!
Allen Robinson: Kaep’s Message Was Hijacked By NFL
When he was asked about the current state of unrest the nation is experiencing, Robinson said that while there have been some negatives that have come out of it all (he specifically mentioned looting), he felt that perhaps more positives than negatives were going to emerge.
“This isn’t something that just started going on. Dating back to the whole Colin Kaepernick thing — his whole thing was this,” Robinson said about police brutality. And even prior to that …. the Trayvon Martin thing happened when I was in college, and then here we are again about nine years later when something very similar happened. You see there’s a lot going on right now, but I think there’s been more positivity coming out of this than negativity.”
When he was asked how he felt about the NFL dropping the ball and mishandling Kaepernick’s protest, essentially banning him, Robinson didn’t hold back. “That’s really what I think hurts a lot of people. When this was going on … it was completely hijacked by the wrong voices and what the ultimate agenda was,” he said.
Allen Robinson Would Welcome Colin Kaepernick as a Teammate
“I do think they would be tolerant of it,” Robinson said of kneeling as a form of peaceful protest. “Do I think that that’s the next step? I’m not sure if that’s the next step, but it’s probably in the talks of being a possible action taken … it’s something that could possibly shop the unity of the league and teams acknowledging the wrong they had with that and how that whole situation went down,” he said.
READ NEXT: ‘Underrated Bears Defender Could Wind Up Deciding NFC North, Analysts Say