Trump: Kaepernick should be allowed back in the NFL

FRISCO - President Donald Trump has long set himself up as an opponent of Colin Kaepernick and everything the ousted NFL quarterback represents - or, at least, what many think he represents. But in a massive shift that may be both a response to the way the wind is blowing in terms of a civil-rights moment and a force of that wind, Trump now says Kaepernick should get another shot in the league.

“The answer is, absolutely I would (support Kaepernick's return),'' said Trump, who famously suggested NFL owners should "fire any son of a bitch'' who knelt during the national anthem. “If he deserves it, he should. If he has the playing ability.''

"Absolutely I would," support @Kaepernick7 getting a 2nd shot in the @NFL -- @POTUS in my interview today on racism, policing, statues & yes--sports. #ColinKaepernick pic.twitter.com/0B83cNbesW
— Scott Thuman (@ScottThuman) June 17, 2020

Kaepernick started the kneeling trend as a member of the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. Its intend was to call attention to institutionalized racism in America. Many observers, purposely or otherwise, attached other meanings to the gesture and Kaepernick supporters say he's been blackballed out of the league ever since.

Trump recently had also bashed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for apologizing for the league's insensitivity over players’ concerns over racial issues.

“Could it be even remotely possible that in Roger Goodell’s rather interesting statement of peace and reconciliation, he was intimating that it would now be O.K. for the players to KNEEL, or not to stand, for the National Anthem, thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?” Trump tweeted.

It was just a week ago when the president suggested that he would boycott NFL games if players’ knelt during the anthem. But the mood is shifting, in part as a national response to the killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.

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As Trump alters his view, it's worth noting that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is among those leaders in sports and society who has yet to express a view on this civil-rights movement. But an overwhelming number of NFL players vow to kneel in 2020, and the conversation is opening up ... and maybe minds are opening up as well.