Players Coalition invites Colin Kaepernick, Bob McNair to meeting in Philadelphia

The NFL Players Coalition have invited league commissioner Roger Goodell, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to their next meeting on Monday, Oct. 30. The group will be meeting in Philadelphia and they call the meeting an “act of good faith,” provided Goodell and McNair attend, presumably.

Right now, the primary topic of concern is the offensive comment made by McNair in which he referred to NFL players peacefully protesting systemic racism and social injustice as “inmates running the prison.”

“Many players have been deeply troubled by the disturbing comments made by Texans’ owner Bob McNair,” the official statement reads. “It is ronic that such a quote would emerge in the midst of an ongoing struggle to highlight injustices suffered by people of color, including our nation’s deeply flawed approach to criminal justice and inhumane treatment of imprisoned people.”

The statement goes on to say that the events of the past couple days have “upset and angered many players and continues to demonstrate the lack of seriousness that some league officials are approaching our discussions.”

On Friday, 49ers linebacker Eric Reid spoke about the comments from McNair, saying “Welcome to America 2017.” Reid was among the first to join Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem as a peaceful protest against mistreatment and violence against people of color in the United States.

“As long as the prevailing reality of our league includes a culture where owners feel such behavior and language is permissible, our cause will continue to be stifled and progress will remain elusive,” the statement reads. “This isn’t about being a player or a club owner — but basic human decency.”

That last part is the key that so many people are missing. You can expand on that to include politics in general. It’s not about left versus right or blue states against red states. It’s about equality, being heard and so many other things.

You can see the whole statement below.