NFL Offered Money to End Anthem Protests, Now Players are Making Their Move

NFL players are now feuding with each other after the NFL offered a roughly $100 million pot of money that could support community efforts that would target issues raised by players during their national anthem protests.

After word of the offer became public, Miami Dolphins safety Michael Thomas and San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid withdrew from the Players Coalition on the grounds that its decisions were not ones in which they had a role, according to USA Today.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins and retired wide receiver Anquan Boldin have been leading the Players Coalition.

Thomas and Reid posted a statement on Twitter.

“The Players Coalition was supposed to be formed as a group that represents NFL Athletes who have been silently protesting social injustices and racism. However, Malcolm and Anquan can no longer speak on our behalf as we don’t believe the coalition’s beliefs are in our best interests as a whole,” the statement said.

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“We will continue to have dialogue with the league to find equitable solutions but without Malcolm and Anquan as our representatives,” the statement said.

“Myself and other protesting players are departing from the Players Coalition because we aren’t satisfied with the structure of the Players Coalition and the communication that’s been happening between Malcolm and the NFL,” Reid said in an interview.

“Myself and the aforementioned protesting players have voiced these concerns numerous times to Malcolm concerning the structure of the organization and how we want to be involved more with the NFL in those communications,” he added. “It has not transpired.”

“Malcolm continues to have conversations on his own with the NFL, and the Players Coalition is his organization,” Reid said. “When we agreed to be a part of the Players Coalition, we were under the impression that it would be our organization. We were under the impression that we would all have equal say in that organization.”

Reid then accused Jenkins of trying to build his own organization.

“But we’ve come to find out that it’s actually Malcolm and Anquan’s organization. Nobody else really has a stake in the organization. Malcolm actually wants us to — he calls it invest, I call it donate — to the company to pay salaries for his staff. But again, we would have no equity in the organization.”

Jenkins sought to refute the allegations.

“Whenever you get as many players as we have involved in the coalition — we’ve got guys represented from almost every team — there’s always differences of opinion,” Jenkins said. “But I feel like everybody’s been included, they’ve been informed and it’s been a pretty transparent process. So I was a little bit surprised that they separated themselves, but I understand a lot of these things are personal, and guys want to make sure whatever they are doing or getting involved in speaks to their heart and is something they feel comfortable getting behind. So I respect their decisions.”

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One sportswriter tweeted that the role of Colin Kaepernick in any future effort is a sticking point.

“I’m not sure about whether Kaepernick wants to be involved,” Jenkins said. “For me, the biggest thing is I saw an opportunity to create a group of players that could use their voice together to really make some change, and we still have that opportunity.”

Jenkins said the players have achieved progress.

“We’ve been able to go from protests to now speaking with ownership about something that’s never been in place before. We’re proud of that. And we’ll continue to work with whoever wants to be in that conversation.”

“We are close to forming a partnership that we really feel like we can amplify the voice of the players,” Jenkins said. “For me personally, this whole protest has been to draw awareness. So if the league is proposing something I feel like can replace that or amplify that voice then I see no need in me continuing to protest, but those conversations are still being had.”

Reid insisted he knew nothing about the $100 million offer.

“That was never discussed at any point,” Reid said. “I feel like I’ve been misled. I won’t accuse Malcolm of directly lying to me, because I don’t think he’s that type of guy. But I will say he’s misled us. And shoot, if that’s what lying is, then that’s what it is.”

Jenkins said that was not so.

“They understood the entire scope of the plan,” Jenkins said.

“For this to now be less about the actual work and more about who wants to be in the forefront or be the leader is disappointing,” Jenkins said. “It’s especially disappointing for us to hear this in the media and now be put in a position where we have to answer all of these questions. All of these conversations could have been between us as players. It’s a little bit disappointing.”

According to ESPN, the NFL funding would be divided among the United Negro College Fund (25 percent), the Dream Corps (25 percent) and the Players Coalition itself.

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