Miami Dolphins’ wide receiver Kenny Stills isn’t going to hold back on sharing his opinion, even if it’s a criticism of Dolphins’ team owner Stephen Ross.
On Thursday, Stills questions how Ross could host a fundraiser for President Donald Trump at his home and claim to fight for equality and against racism through his RISE foundation.
Stils echoed his tweet from earlier this week, which was directed at Ross’ stance.
? You can’t have a non profit with this mission statement then open your doors to Trump. https://t.co/sNBWfEXvLn pic.twitter.com/nNkRf2wJep
— Kenny Stills (@KSTiLLS) August 7, 2019
“Someone has to have enough courage to let him know he can’t play both sides of this,” Stills said on Thursday night, according to ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe. “It’s something that I can look back on and say I made the right decision. Maybe I shouldn’t have done it on social media, but I did. If you’re going to associate yourself with bad people, then people are going to know about it. I put it out there for everybody to see it.
“If you say you’re going to be about something, let’s be about it,” Stills said.
“The tweet doesn’t, like, put me against Mr. Ross,” Stills said. “I don’t have any hard feelings toward him. There’s no, like, beef. It’s just like, ‘Hey, these two things don’t align. And maybe somebody else hasn’t told you, but I’m letting you know.’ It’s important to me that the work that we’re doing isn’t just lip service. It’s real. Everything that I do has been real from the very beginning. And it’s going to be that way.”
Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores also chimed in on Stills’ comments.
“I asked him why he didn’t talk to the owner, why he didn’t talk to Steve before putting something out there,” Flores said. “That’s something we have to do more of, more communication, more conversation, if we want to make change. I wish he would have done that. I told him that.”
While Stills and Ross haven’t talked about the comments, Stills said he believes that Ross is trying to be an ally. However, Stills, who has done so much charitable work for RISE over the years, is starting to distance himself from the outfit.
Additionally, Stills says he isn’t worried about any potential punishment coming down the pike for his comments.
“If those come, then they come. I feel like I’m doing God’s work — all the stuff that I’ve done and spoken up for and stood up for,” Stills said. “It’s not about politics. It’s never been about politics. It’s about the human being.”
The NFLPA stands behind Stills.
“As a player leader, few have done more for their community than Kenny,” the NFLPA said in a statement. “We support him, as we do all of our players, in using their platform for good.”