Dak Prescott has been getting pummeled by the Black community for his views on NFL players kneeling for the national anthem, but Ice Cube chose to defend him.
Last month, the Dallas Cowboy quarterback said that staging protests during games are inappropriate, and it robs people of enjoying the game.
Afterwards, he was mocked in a painting, The Game took him to task and so did the Oakland Raiders’ Tahir Whitehead who said Prescott “Doesn’t wanna lose that Campbells Chunky Soup deal.”
“I don’t think that’s the time or the venue to do so,” said Prescott about kneeling for the anthem.
“The game of football has always brought me such a peace, and I think it does the same for a lot of other people, people playing the game, people watching the game and any people that have an impact on the game. So when you bring such a controversy to the stadium, to the field, to the game, it takes away. It takes away from the joy and the love that football brings a lot of people,” he added.
But Ice Cube said Prescott needs to ignore the backlash and continue to stand his ground. The rapper also feels the 25-year-old should be free to do whatever he pleases and shouldn’t be controlled by other people’s opinion.
“You should do what you feel. That’s whats supposed to be great about being in America, you do what you feel,” said Cube. “You don’t have to be in lock step with anybody. Not the community, not with the coach, not the owner. You do what you feel. And when you do that, sometimes you gotta let the chips fall where they may and live with your decision.”
Prescott’s statements came shortly after Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones said his team will have to stand for the anthem no matter what. Then days later, Jones praised Prescott for his stance on the issue and said he was proud of him.
Afterwards, people blasted the quarterback even more.
But Ice Cube said Prescott shouldn’t be accused of simply following Jones’ rules, because he’s always felt the same.
“From what I understand, looking at this situation, he felt this way before,” explained Cube. “This is not a new position. [Prescott] is not taking this position because the owner takes his position. What I think he’s doing is what everybody should probably do, is make a decision and live with that and roll with that. At a certain point, it becomes everybody else’s problem. Not his. It’s only his problem if he allows it to be; if he allows somebody to change his position. You gotta live with the decision.”
