Panthers Safety Eric Reid Says He'll Be a Pain to the NFL for Blackballing Him and Colin Kaepernick

Eric Reid is not going to make the NFL’s life easy because of what he and Colin Kaepernick had [...]

By Brian Jones

Eric Reid is not going to make the NFL's life easy because of what he and Colin Kaepernick had to deal with the last couple of years. The Carolina Panthers safety recently went to Twitter to tell a fan the NFL "blackballed" him and Kaepernick and he's going to be a pain for the league because of it.

"You and some others seem to misunderstand that we had no beef with the NFL until they started perpetuating the systemic oppression that we are fighting by blackballing Colin and then me," Reid wrote. "Nah I won't quit playing but I will be a royal pain in the NFL's a— for acting like they care."

This was in response to a fan to what Reid had to say about Kaepernick not being part of the NFL's partnership with Jay-Z's Roc Nation to help increase the entertainment side of the league as well as bringing more awareness to social justice.

The fan said, "Eric I rock with you but you are actually signed and playing with a team. Saying anything about any partnerships seems kinda weird. If you felt that strongly you didn't have to start back playing."

Kaepernick and Reid were teammates when they were both playing for the San Francisco 49ers. And like Kaepernick, Reid took a knee during the national anthem in 2016 and he did it last year when he signed with the Panthers.

"I've always been considering what's best for the movement," Reid said in 2018, according to the Washington Post. "I've always told myself when the time comes to stop kneeling that I'll stop — that time has not come."

Reid told Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer, he will continue to kneel in 2019 if he feels it's necessary.

"If a day comes that I feel like we've addressed those issues, and our people aren't being discriminated against or being killed over traffic violations, then I'll decide it's time to stop protesting," Reid said. "I haven't seen that happen."

After the 2016 season, Kaepernick opted out of his contract and he became a free agent. He has not signed with the team since which led to him suing the NFL for collusion against him which was settled earlier this year. As for Reid, after he became a free agent at the end of the 2017 season, he remained unsigned until late September of last year when he signed with the Panthers. When the 2018 season came to an end, the veteran safety signed a three-year contract extension with Carolina.

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