National anthem protests have once again become a major topic with the NFL preseason underway, but Dez Bryant has no interest in sharing his thoughts about them.
When asked about some of his fellow players choosing to sit during the playing of the national anthem, Bryant said that is their choice and he has no opinion on it.
Dez Bryant on national anthem protests: “Whatever they got going on with that, that’s them…I don’t really have nothing to say about that."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 16, 2017
After that quote was posted, fans immediately began criticizing Bryant for hiding from a social issue. He responded by asking Dallas Morning News reporter Jon Machota to take the tweet down, noting that all he meant was his focus is solely on football.
Dez Bryant unhappy with @jonmachota for tweeting Dez's thoughts on national anthem protests pic.twitter.com/ADzTa2k6oA
— Steve DelVecchio (@SteveDelSports) August 16, 2017
Bryant then clarified that he does care about social inequality but said he’d rather keep quiet because he has a “family to feed.”
More Dez on national anthem protests… pic.twitter.com/xmu442MxzU
— Steve DelVecchio (@SteveDelSports) August 16, 2017
Don't quote me on nothing….y'all asked me about it..and I wasn't in a mood to talk about it…not saying I don't care about it https://t.co/PRgTv7ph2E
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) August 16, 2017
I got a family to feed https://t.co/PRgTv7ph2E
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) August 16, 2017
Bruh it's the wrong place and time to be talking about that….I care about my black people…at the same time I have a family https://t.co/9HNgWJ7cFO
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) August 16, 2017
Bryant is a good enough player where he probably would not face negative consequences in his career if he shared a strong opinion, but we’ve all seen what has happened with Colin Kaepernick. That’s likely what he was referring to.
Given what Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said about national anthem protests, you have to wonder if Bryant was simply following team protocol.
