*We’re with Shannon Sharpe as he questions and reflects on one of his “very best friends,” Ray Lewis, kneeling with other players before Sunday’s Baltimore Ravens versus Jacksonville Jaguars game in London.
Sharpe, who hosts “Undisputed” on FS1 along with Skip Bayless, says he’s downright skeptical of Lewis all of a sudden coming around to protest the national anthem after he continuously criticized Colin Kaepernick for starting the movement last season.
“I’m very disappointed in one of my very best friends, Ray Lewis,” Sharpe says on-air Monday, Sept. 25. “Ray Lewis sat in that chair right there and said he could never kneel, he could never not stand for the national anthem because so many people died and he had family members that fight for this country … and the flag means so much to him and he kneeled. Not on one knee — on both knees. So what are you kneeling for?”
“I’m 100 percent for racial justice, 100 percent,” Lewis said on “Undisputed” in July. “Trust me, I lived it myself. So you don’t have to convince me of that part. How he did it? Totally different thing. I don’t totally agree with that.”
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Shannon Sharpe is too real. Called out one of his best friends, saying he was disappointed in Ray Lewis. pic.twitter.com/0cOTGPMrIN
— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) September 25, 2017
The deep thinking Sharpe went on to speculate that Lewis wasn’t refusing to stand for the national anthem out of solidarity for black oppression, as Kaepernick did. But it was actually because Donald Trump called for athletes who protest to be fired or suspended.
“And that’s what I find so ironic about this, Skip,” Sharpe says. “The very people that said they would never, ever kneel — I just want to know what are you unifying against? … Are you showing solidarity against racism or the [injustice] that’s in this country? Or are you showing solidary against President Trump and what he said? His attack on the very NFL … because what we know about above all else, those 32 [coaches] and the commissioner, will protect that NFL shield at all costs against all foreign and domestic [enemies]. President Trump had to find that out the hard way.”
Meanwhile, a lot of folks on Twitter were just as confused:
Ray lewis spent the whole summer criticizing Colin Kaepernick & wouldn't offer him a Job, now he's taking a knee pic.twitter.com/EsuHhKohJE
— Adam Weebay (@AdamWeebay) September 24, 2017
Ray Lewis is a clown. Last year he criticized Kaep for kneeling. Today he was on one knee before the game. #makeupyourmind
— MrGetChuRite (@mrgetchurite) September 24, 2017
Kaep when he saw Ray Lewis taking a knee lol pic.twitter.com/oOatoqQi7n
— Leed (@pc_leed) September 24, 2017
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