Bears Players Rush to Back Kaepernick Without a Kneel
Akiem Hicks couldn't say he'd take a knee. Allen Robinson II couldn't say it. Danny Trevathan couldn't say it, either.
Even Bears coach Matt Nagy stepped around the issue adeptly and tabled it for the future.
Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem caused an uproar in the NFL and it's obvious players perceive it led to him being out of the league thereafter.
Now Bears players say something needs to be done to correct the situation.
"That's really what hurts a lot of people," Robinson said. "When this was going on and when a silent protest and when a stand was trying to be took, it was completely hijacked by the wrong voices of actually what the ultimate agenda was.
"And now seeing people come out and kind of applaud him for what he was standing for, and that's people across the league, across the country, it's like from the inside looking out that's what it was the whole time."
However, none of the Bears who spoke during a conference call Wednesday with media would say they would take a knee now in backing Kaepernick's stance.
"I feel like at the end of the day those were steps they took to draw to people's attention," said Trevathan, the Bears' inside linebacker and defensive field general. "We have to get their attention first. We have to be heard.
"I feel now that has happened. Now what's the next step. The next step is affecting change, creating change. That's where we have to be on board. Like, we have to get out as a team going forward. At the same time do whatever, bring as many people, rent a bus, rent a dag-gone big old subway if you have to. Bring as many people as you can to vote and to put something forward, not just talk about this stuff."
Hicks initially agreed with those opposed to the kneeling, even if he supported the ideas behind it.
"I can't take anything back," Hicks said.
For Hicks, it was more of a defensive stance he took at the time.
"At that time when Kaepernick was taking a knee I had the same thought that 85, 90 percent of the league thought at that moment," Hick said. "If I get down on one knee in front of this stadium, I am fired. My job, my career, my life is over. I will be blackballed.
"And then to come out on the other end and watch it actually happen to Kaepernick it just tells me my feelings were real. It was the reality and hopefully it won't be going forward."
It's Hicks' feelings that Kaepernick should be back in the league.
"I wonder if he gets a job," Hicks said. "I wonder if now they say, 'Hey we need to bring you back in. We've seen the injustice. We've seen the wrong in the situation that we put you in. And we want to fix it.'
"Now is it signing him back? Is it giving him a position in the league? Maybe he works on the social justice communities. Maybe he's involved in a greater role, to make sure we don't have these instances again. I can't speak to how to fix the situation. All I will say is this: we watched it. We saw how it unfolded. And we see that he doesn't have a job now. And this call isn't to advocate for Kap getting a job, but I will say that he did sacrifice his position for where he is now. I can't say (he's in a) tough spot, but I will say this, his career was ended because of it in my opinion. ... We signed Mike Glennon."
The Bears could have signed Kaepernick instead of Glennon as their veteran bridge quarterback to start when draft pick Mitchell Trubisky could play.
After Hicks ripped the Bears for signing Glennon instead of Kaepernick, he didn't come out and urge the Bears to sign Kaepernick at this point.
"Now as far as my team, how do I feel about my team not working him out, we've got enough stuff to figure out other than bringing other people in it from other situations," Hicks said. "What I will say is this, though, it's not a Chicago problem, it's an entire league problem.
"There's 31 other teams that I don't know who's worked him out, who's brought him in. But I will say this, it doesn't start with Chicago."
Rather than dwell on the act of kneeling and bringing back Kaepernick, Hicks suggested something be done for the former 49ers quarterback.
"We've seen how he has been pushed to the side," Hicks said. "I wonder if they're going to rectify that situation I wonder if they're going to make it better for everyone, including him."
Robinson put it on the NFL to compensate Kaepernick for his lost time.
"I think that the league can come up with something to kind of reconcile that," Robinson said. "I think when you see different people speaking on it, whether that's team owners or league officials, they're trying to figure out a way to definitely mend that bridge."
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