The Philadelphia Eagles have responded to activist and columnist Shaun King's series of tweets regarding team owner Jeffrey Lurie's comments about quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
King is currently boycotting the NFL over Kaepernick not being signed by a team, a fact that he and others have attributed to his national anthem protests, suggesting he has been blacklisted by owners because of his activism.
In an interview with Philly.com columnist Marcus Hayes, Lurie said that he does not think protesting the national anthem is respectful. Here's the quote from Hayes' article:
“I don’t think anybody who is protesting the national anthem … is very respectful,” Lurie said. “If that’s all their platform is, is to protest the national anthem, then what’s the proactive nature of it?”
This prompted a response from King, who is a staunch supporter of Kaepernick. King accused Lurie of not wanting to sign Kaepernick but being willing to sign former Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, who was caught on tape four years ago using the N-word.
King also cited Kaepernick's donations to charities and how he has comforted the families of victims of police brutality, before describing Lurie's suggestion that the quarterback was protesting without a plan as "foolishness."
In a tweet Thursday morning, the Eagles called King's remarks "entirely unfair and inaccurate." The team posted an unedited transcript of the interview with Lurie, in which the owner does not explicitly say he would or would not sign Kaepernick. Instead, Lurie says that he has "no idea" whether or not he'd add the quarterback, saying the team is happy with the players it has at the position. If the team were to consider signing Kaepernick, the Eagles would have to "fully evaluate" him, Lurie said.
Lurie also said he encourages "respectful" ways to raise social injustice issues, citing safety Malcolm Jenkins, who has been raising his fist during the national anthem before games and has, like Kaepernick, been proactive in the community.
King responded by asking the team if it rejected Hayes' characterization, calling it "troubling." The team replied by saying the quotes speak for themselves.