Russell Wilson Gives a Patriotic Explanation for Not Joining Kaepernick's Flag Protest

Twitchy Staff | 9:40 AM on September 01, 2016

After Colin Kaepernick elected to sit during the national anthem last weekend, athletes around the NFL are being asked where they stand on the San Francisco quarterback’s controversial decision. During a press conference earlier this week, Seattle Seahawk’s QB Russell Wilson was asked to give his thoughts on Kaepernick.

Here was Wilson’s response:

“First of all, there’s no perfect answer. I understand and respect the cause because there’s so much going on in America right now — so much hurt, so much pain. And ultimately I understand what he’s doing.”

“For me, I love the flag. I love the National Anthem because it’s an emotional time for me because I’m so grateful I get to play on the football field. And every time I get to put my hand on my heart, it’s truly an honor — you know, the military, for me I think about my family members who have served, and friends — I train down in San Diego all the time, so I’m around the Navy and I see those guys around. And all they do for our country and the people in Afghanistan and all these people fighting. 9/11, for example, coming up — that’s going to be our first game and I think about all the pain from that. So that’s why I stand and put my hand on my heart.”

Russell Wilson is no stranger to expressing his love for this country:

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During the press conference, Wilson concluded with:

“I do think there’s always issues in our country. I think ultimately it comes back to love. Like I said to you guys before, it comes back to loving one another and appreciating one another. Understanding that we’re not perfect but we need to be equal. And that’s from the black community, from the white community, that’s from police officers to everybody to all of our military to everybody that we get to recognize and see — have great appreciation for what this country is based on — and what it should be based on.

It should be based on equality. It should be based on people having freedom of speech — people can have that decision. And so, I understand what (Kaepernick’s) doing. But at the same time for me, I can also think about where we need to go and where our thoughts need to be. It needs to be about love, about caring about one another. And that’s for every community, every situation, every socio-economic status.”