Alex Smith didn’t avoid a question about Colin Kaepernick with Kevin Kietzman this week but he didn’t give a hot take either. The measured yet honest take is what you’d expect from Alex.
Kietzman talked with Alex on 810 WHB and I transcribed the portion about Kaepernick below. I hope that we can have a respectful discussion in the comments. Please.
KK: There’s no chance I can’t ask you about Colin Kaepernick and what happened in San Francisco. You were right in the eye of that storm there. They made a pretty bad decision there on who to keep, didn’t they?
Alex: I mean, it’s four years ago now so I feel like that’s the last thing I’m thinking about right now is the decision that got made. For me, I feel like I’m the lucky one with where I’m at right now. Thankful to be here in the position I’m in.
KK: You must know him pretty well. Are you surprised he did what he did?
Alex: For sure, definitely, like the rest of the country you’re caught off guard a little bit at first. This has been said but when the national anthem is playing what comes to mind for me is our military, past and present, that allow us to play a football game. That’s kinda what resonates with me, that I’m standing on the sidelines there playing a football game and I really do think about the military at that point. Listen, he’s lived a completely different life. I’ve never walked in his shoes. For him, it represented something different. If anything has come out of this it’s what a great country we live in that you can voice your opinion, you have the right to do that, you have the right to protest. You don’t have to worry about your freedoms being taken. Certainly I don’t think anybody debates with why he’s doing it as far as the motivation there. I certainly think everybody sees what’s going on with our country in our past and today. This is how he’s chosen to go about it and it certainly seems like it means a lot to him so it’s his right to do it.
KK: Did you know him to be opinionated or outspoken as a teammate?
Alex: He’s like everybody else. Certainly back when I was playing with him this was not something I ever heard or was around but that was four years ago now. A lot happens over the course of that time.