Bears' Akiem Hicks suggests NFL blackballed Colin Kaepernick: 'We signed Mike Glennon'
Jacksonville Jaguars backup quarterback Mike Glennon may wonder why he was trending on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.
As noted by Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times and Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago, Chicago Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks spoke with reporters about the killing of George Floyd, the African American man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. Hicks discussed the famous national anthem protest sparked by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016, and talked about race relations in the United States in June 2020.
Hicks remarked that he's sure Kaepernick electing to kneel during renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to protest police violence against African Americans and social injustices led to the Niners parting ways with the signal-caller following the 2016 season and resulted in other franchises passing on Kaepernick from early 2017 through this spring.
"We signed Mike Glennon," Hicks remarked.
After Glennon performed admirably in a backup role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears signed him to a three-year deal in 2017 that could've been worth up to $45 million. Only one month into that regular season, though, the Bears benched Glennon in favor of then-rookie Mitchell Trubisky following lousy outings and three losses in four games.
Chicago released Glennon the subsequent March.
Kaepernick's name was also in the news on Wednesday after Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said "we owe a tremendous amount" to the QB during an appearance on The Ringer's "Flying Coach" podcast, and after New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees told Yahoo Finance he still doesn't agree with players kneeling during the anthem:
"I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Let me just tell what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States. I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during World War II, one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. Both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about. And in many cases, that brings me to tears, thinking about all that has been sacrificed.
“Not just those in the military, but for that matter, those throughout the civil rights movements of the ‘60s, and all that has been endured by so many people up until this point. And is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.”
Those comments earned Brees criticism and scorn from teammate and wide receiver Michael Thomas, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and many more within the sports community.
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