North Carolina Panthers’ player Eric Reid slammed Philadelphia Eagles’ safety Malcolm Jenkins for capitalizing off of the NFL protest movement after their heated exchanged during Sunday night’s football game.
Tension between Reid and Jenkins has been brewing for over a year now and last week’s conflict left fans confused as to what happened. The beef between the two derived from their differences over Colin Kaepernick’s protests for social injustice.
Last fall, NFL team owners met with the Players Coalition because they were interested in ending all the noise created by the protests. Reid described the negotiations that took place with the owners because of them kneeling during the national anthem and offered to “do more” for their “community with a list” of their resources. However, all of the football players agreed to not succumb to the owners’ proposal according to Reid.
(screenshot from Twitter)
Nevertheless, the Carolina Panthers’ player said he received a phone call from Jenkins who asked him to stop protesting.
“Malcolm called and asked me if I would stop protesting — ‘be comfortable ending my demonstrations’ were his words — if the NFL made a donation to the Players Coalition,” Reid told ABC 11. “I tried not to blow a gasket and tell him no. Then he asked me, ‘Well how much? How much will it take for you to stop?'”
“So I ended that conversation with him,” the player continued. “I told the other players who were involved with the coalition the content of our conversation. We then removed — a couple players, myself and I think three or four others removed ourselves from the Players Coalition via tweet.”
The Players Coalition came to an agreement with the NFL team owners and accepted almost $90 million in funding. Reid looked at the alleged quid pro quo with disgust and said that ending the protests in exchange for monetary donations is the definition of selling out. Jenkins also happens to be the de facto face of the Coalition.
“That Sunday Malcolm stopped protesting,” said Reid. “I think he said something along the lines, I think it’s time for everybody to stop protesting. And he didn’t protest the rest of the year.”
Kaepernick who was the first player to kneel during the national anthem still remains without a job and Reid is still one of the few players who still protest. Reid also called Jenkins a neo-colonialist and considers him an inside man for the owners.
“We believe a lot of players should have stepped up for Colin,” Reid said last Sunday. “I believe Malcolm capitalized on the situation, he co-opted the movement that was started by Colin [Kaepernick] to get his organization funded. It’s cowardly. He sold us out.”
Eric Reid explains his frustration with Malcolm Jenkins and the Players Coalition. #ABC11 #Panthers @ABC11_WTVD pic.twitter.com/R7C4oU6UVK
— Bridget Condon (@BridgetCondon_) October 28, 2018
