LeSean McCoy says he still respects Jim Kelly despite anthem criticisms

Buffalo Bills icon Jim Kelly blasted LeSean McCoy for his conduct during the national anthem on Sunday, but McCoy is not going to fire back.

The Bills running back said Wednesday that he did not lose respect for Kelly, who harshly criticized McCoy for stretching during the anthem, and that he was not expecting an apology.

“Like I texted him, he said some things to the media that he probably could have said to me,” McCoy said, via Mike Rodak of ESPN. “But his opinion, it really doesn’t matter to me. I like Jim Kelly. He texts me and I just told him, ‘Hey, you’re human.’ People have their own opinions. What you said, you don’t have to apologize for it. I don’t think you’re wrong. That’s how he felt. I understand. You’re human and I told him exactly, ‘My respect for you, it hasn’t changed. It’s still very high.’ He’s a hell of a player and I respected him when I met him, and even the relationship I have so far. So it didn’t affect me at all.”

McCoy said that President Trump’s comments had a major impact on him, leading to his actions.

“I was extremely hurt, to be honest,” McCoy said. “Because at first, everybody has their own opinions, like I talked about. People believe in different things, they stand up for what they want to stand up for, that’s their right. And some of the words that the President used, it just rubbed me the wrong way. I was upset and I was frustrated. That’s the way I wanted to express myself at the game. I took a knee. I started stretching. I was angry. I was hurt, just like I said after the game. Somebody like our president, being our leader of this country, where millions and millions and millions of people look at America and see the type of words and things he’s saying about us. I mean, it just got to me. It really did.”

McCoy went above and beyond simply kneeling during the anthem, which attracted a whole other level of controversy. It does not sound like he has any regrets.