Back in the beginning of August, Ray Lewis was one of a handful of analysts to push back on Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protests. On Sunday, he joined Kaepernick's movement just two days removed from President Donald Trump's explosive "get that son of a b***h off the field," comments.
Ravens players, along with Ray Lewis, take a knee during the national anthem in London. pic.twitter.com/TcMnCvj33b
— Jake Russell (@_JakeRussell) September 24, 2017
Here were Trump's comments on Friday:
... trump taking a veiled shot at colin kaepernick, says owner should say: "get that sonofabitch off the field right now... he's fired!!" pic.twitter.com/ttbOd0VrPG
— fake nick ramsey (@nick_ramsey) September 23, 2017
The full quote from Trump:
Wouldn't you love one of these NFL owners... when someone disrespects our flag say, "Get that son of a bitch off the field, right now, out, he's fired."
The live crowd applauded the comments from the President.
Trump also referenced NFL ratings, which are down so far this year, and blamed the drop on the protests negatively affecting the game.
The clear shot here seems to be taken at former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was the driving force behind the protests last year. Many players across many different teams and sports have since joined in on the protest during the anthem, generating a clear controversy between two sides of the country.
LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Colin Kaepernick's mother, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL players and the NFL Players Association all called out Trump following the comments.
Here's what Lewis told Kaepernick back in August:
brotherhood - we are in this together pic.twitter.com/Q3HpPA0uqr
— Ray Lewis (@raylewis) August 1, 2017
"What you do off the field, don't let too many people know," Lewis said. "Because they gonna judge you anyway. No matter what you do. No matter if it's good or bad.
"If you do nothing else young man, get back on the football field and let your play speak for itself."
Kaepernick's girlfriend responded with a picture depicting Lewis as a slave and the Ravens owner as a slave owner. That resulted, according to Lewis, in the Ravens deciding not to sign Kaepernick.
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