“It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a free and fair society, which includes the right to speak out in protest. It should go without saying that I’m proud to be an American. But, to quote James Baldwin, ‘exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually’.” - Eric Reid, former teammate of Colin Kaepernick, who originally took a knee alongside him.