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Rev. Al Sharpton is not buying the apology issued by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. In a video apology, Goodell said that the NFL was wrong in not allowing players to peacefully protest and that the league would now encourage their efforts and stand by them moving forward in the wake of nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.
Sharpton ripped the commissioner for his “empty apology” while addressing the crowd at George Floyd’s funeral in Houston, Texas.
The reverend said if Goodell is really sorry, he would make sure Colin Kaepernick, who protested police brutality and systemic racism by taking a knee during the national anthem while a member of the San Francisco 49ers, gets another NFL job.
“The head of the NFL said, ‘Yeah, maybe we was wrong. Football players, maybe they did have the right to peacefully protest,'” Sharpton said, via TMZ Sports. “Well, don’t apologize. Give Colin Kaepernick a job back. Don’t come with some empty apology. Take a man’s livelihood. Strip a man down of his talents. And four years later, when the whole world is marching, all of a sudden you go and do a FaceTime, talk about you sorry.
“Minimizing the value of our lives. You sorry? Then repay the damage you did to the career you stood down, ’cause when Colin took a knee, he took it for for the families in this building. And we don’t want an apology. We want him repaired.”
You can check out Sharpton’s comments towards Goodell below:
Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on the back of his neck for nearly 8 minutes while Floyd pleaded for air. He was just 46 years old. The ex-officer, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested had his charges upgraded to second-degree murder. The three other officers involved — Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao — have been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department and were also arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
