The Carolina Panthers have signed Eric Reid after the player was snubbed for a year for his open support of Colin Kaepernick.
Reid was the first player to kneel alongside his former 49ers teammate in 2016.
“Eric has been a starting safety in the NFL and has played at a high level throughout his career,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. “After we put (safety) Da’Norris Searcy on injured reserve, Ron (Rivera) and I discussed our options, and Eric was at the top of our list. He is a physical safety with good ball skills and play-making ability.”
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— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 27, 2018
A year after kneeling next to Kaepernick, he wrote an op-ed for The New York Times to explain his decision.
“We spoke at length about many of the issues that face our community, including systemic oppression against people of color, police brutality and the criminal justice system. We also discussed how we could use our platform, provided to us by being professional athletes in the N.F.L., to speak for those who are voiceless,” he wrote.
“After hours of careful consideration, and even a visit from Nate Boyer, a retired Green Beret and former N.F.L. player, we came to the conclusion that we should kneel, rather than sit, the next day during the anthem as a peaceful protest. We chose to kneel because it’s a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy.”
He became a free agent in the spring, according to The Charlotte Observer. Like Kaepernick, he has an open collusion case against the NFL.
He is signed to the team for a year.
Kaepernick, a former quarterback, remains unsigned. Mark Gregagos, his lawyer, suggested he could be signed soon.
“I will just say stay tuned, that next week there may be some news,” Gregagos said last week.
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