Randy Moss: NFL's Handling of Colin Kaepernick Has Muted Most Black Athletes

Randy Moss made a statement during his Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony. He wore a tie which listed the names of 12 African-American men and women, most of whom were killed by police or died in police custody. But Moss wasn’t done with the discussion.

In an interview with ESPN’s The Undefeated (which you should check out), Moss was open to revisiting the topic, and landed on the ramifications of the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback started the national anthem protests, which began, in part, to discuss police brutality and the problematic race relations in our country.

From the Moss interview with The Undefeated:

"“Athletes are scared right now. A lot of athletes, most guys, don’t want to talk about this. They’re terrified for their careers. They’re terrified about losing their occupation, which is how they feed their families. Black athletes know they’re being treated a certain type of way. Most guys can’t really voice their opinions. They’re worried about getting the same type of treatment that Colin Kaepernick got.”"

And why wouldn’t they be scared to speak up?

Look at Eric Reid, a former 49ers safety who was one of the faces of the Kaepernick-led national anthem protests. Reid may be one of the best safeties in the NFL, but he remains a free agent. Some chalked it up to a slow market in free agency, but standout safeties Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro have landed with teams. Reid has not.

Moss, who spent time in jail when he was a teenager after getting involved in a racially charged fight at his high school, addressed the topic of police brutality.

"“But we’ve got to put the attention on the right things. We’ve got to admit to the problem. Everybody. What if black police officers around the country were going up in these white neighborhoods with rich white kids and started killing them? What would people say about that? What would be the reaction to that? A lot of people just don’t want to really talk about what’s going on. A lot of people don’t want to talk about the pain people are feeling out there. There’s a bada– crisis in our country that’s happening every day. And then when you bring it up, when you just try to talk about the truth, you get all this flak.”"

Read the whole interview here.