Carolina Panthers wide receiver Torrey Smith is not a fan of the leagues new rule that requires players to either stand during the national anthem or stay in the locker room, saying that the league has “dropped the ball”.
Smith believes that the new policy could have a negative impact as he believes that it can lead to more problems and more protests.
“When you see reactive policy … I always think that’s a problem,” Smith said on Tuesday, according to ESPN. “Especially when the message has been changed and guys aren’t against the military and they’ve been protesting for what [Colin] Kaepernick originally started, against [police] brutality.
“It almost makes it seem like a guy like Kaepernick and Eric Reid and guys who started it originally, like what they did was in vain, like they were villains. That’s not the case.”
“You’re disappointed but not surprised,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, the league is about money, it’s a business. To try to silence those guys when they’re trying to do the right thing for our country, I don’t know what to say about it.
“It could stir things up, which is a problem. Because you’re stirring things up because you’re being told to be quiet, when it could have been done together to figure out what we can do to move forward and what would be best for the players.”
