Adam Jones Says Baseball Is A White Man’s Sport After Anthem Protest Orioles star Adam Jones recently discussed why certain MLB stars have refused to show support for Colin Kaepernick’s National Anthem protest reports USA Today : It started with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sitting, and later kneeling, during the national anthem during the NFL exhibition season. He was soon joined by teammate Eric Reid. It extended to Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall before Thursday’s NFL season opener. By Sunday, there were four NFL teams with players expressing silent protests, including Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty of the New England Patriots, who stood with raised fists following the anthem. “We already have two strikes against us already,’’ Baltimore Orioles All-Star center fielder Adam Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “so you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can’t kick them out. You need those players. In baseball, they don’t need us. “Baseball is a white man’s sport.’’ Indeed, African Americans comprise 68% of the player population in the NFL, and 74% in the NBA. That number is just 8% in baseball, with only 69 African-Americans on the opening-day rosters and disabled lists this season. Adam says he has no problem with Kap’s protest : “He believes in what he believes in,’’ Jones says of Kaepernick, “and as a man of faith, as an American who has rights, who am I to say he’s wrong? “Kaepernick is not disrespecting the military. He’s not disrespecting people who they’re fighting. What he’s doing is showing that he doesn’t like the social injustice that the flag represents. “Look, I know a lot of people who don’t even know the words to the national anthem. You know how many times I see people stand up for the national anthem and not pay attention. They stand because they’re told to stand. “That’s the problem. Just don’t do something because you’re told to do something. Do it because you understand the meaning behind it and the sacrifice behind it.” Discuss. MLB/Orioles
