09 May 2023 , 11:27
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Kansas City Chiefs star Justin Reid has revealed he was quizzed by teams about his stance on kneeling for the national anthem after his brother Eric took a stand alongside NFL exile Colin Kaepernick.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick divided opinion across the United States in 2016 after choosing to kneel during the national anthem before games in protest of social justice issues, with then-President Donald Trump slamming his actions.
The 35-year-old has not been on an NFL roster since the end of that season and Kaepernick sued the league in 2017, claiming team owners had colluded to stop him from returning. In 2019, the parties agreed to a conditional settlement which prevented the matter from going to court.
Pro-bowl defensive back Eric Reid kneeled alongside Kaepernick during their time together with the 49ers before being released five games into the 2017 season. He followed his former teammate to file a grievance with the NFL as he received minimal interest in his services until a year later when he joined the Carolina Panthers.
The 31-year-old, whose, lawsuit was also settled in 2019, was released by the Panthers in 2019 despite recording career highs in sacks and tackles and he has been without a team since.
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While this was all going on, his younger brother Justin entered the NFL draft in 2018, with many analysts tipping him to be picked in the first or second round. However, he would slide into the third and be taken by the Houston Texans, where he played for four seasons before joining the Chiefs as a free agent in 2022. He would go on to lift the Lombardi Trophy in February as they outgunned the Philadelphia Eagles in a thrilling Super Bowl in Phoenix.
The 26-year-old safety, who is contracted with the Chiefs through 2025, said his pre-draft process featured many questions about his stance on kneeling for the anthem and whether he would follow his brother's lead.
Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid kneeling in protest during the national anthem in 2016. (Getty Images)"I visited with 28 teams before the draft," he recalled on The Pivot Podcast. "Houston actually wasn’t one of the teams that I talked to because they didn’t think they had a shot at getting me. Their first pick was in the third round. I thought I was going in the first or second.
"Some of the visits I ended up having some conversations on social justice issues. This is fresh off of Kaepernick and my brother kneeling. This was still a very hot and taboo topic that was going around the league.
"I remember some teams asked me straight up, ‘Are you gonna kneel?’ You know, ‘Is it gonna be a distraction?’ At that point I’m like, ‘Na, coach I ain’t gonna kneel. I’m not gonna kneel, coach. I’ll do what you need me to do'."
Reid, an ever-present in the starting lineup for the Chiefs last season, said it "hurt" to see his older brother go through difficult times.
Justin Reid was an ever-present for the Chiefs last season (Michael Owens/Getty Images)He says the experiences of Kaepernick and his sibling have made him "pick his moments" when it comes to being vocal about his opinions on society.
"There’s a fine line with it because I would never not be on his side," Reid said. "That’s my blood. That’s my brother. He’s my idol. He was my role model growing up. I compared everything that I did to what he did at that age to measure myself. I will always have his back.
"But it’s a fine line you gotta play with just picking your moments to be vocal and be loud about it because I pick my moments intentionally, but I don’t try and do it in a way that, you know, I’ve seen this movie before.
"I know the potential on which way this could go. I pick my moments when I’m vocal about it and sometimes I just gotta sit tight because, at the end of the day, I truly believe I can have a bigger impact whenever I build my platform, my brand up, bigger than what it is when I’m at a vulnerable state that can be pulled from underneath me so quickly."
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