NFL free agents Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid have gotten a major boost of support from the greatest athlete on the planet, Serena Williams.
Kaepernick and Reid, two former San Francisco 49ers who have yet to find work in the league after protesting police brutality during the national anthem by taking a knee, were in the stands at the U.S. Open on Friday night as Serena and Venus Williams squared off. When Kaepernick and Reid were introduced, the audience gave them “huge ovations,” according to ESPN W.
Serena said she didn’t notice them in the stands, as she was focused on her match, which she won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round. She praised both players for challenging the NFL.
Here are the deets on Kaepernick and Reid’s legal actions against the league, according to ESPN W:
An arbitrator is sending Kaepernick’s grievance with the NFL to trial, denying the league’s request to throw out the quarterback’s claims that owners conspired to keep him out of the league because of his protests of social injustice. A similar grievance is still pending by unsigned safety Eric Reid, who played with Kaepernick in San Francisco and joined in the protests.
Serena backs their protests and sacrifices 100 percent.
“I think every athlete, every human and definitely every African American should be completely grateful and honored how Colin and Eric are doing so much more for the greater good, so to say,” Serena said, according to ESPN W. “They really use their platform in ways that is really unfathomable. I feel like they obviously have great respect from a lot of their peers, especially other athletes, people that really are looking for social change.”
It is clear Serena isn’t down with respectability politics and knows how to support her people. She is the G.O.A.T in more ways than one.