Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, spoke out on Saturday to apologize for previously criticizing former NFL star Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee during the national anthem.
Stafford took to Instagram to say that over the past few months, her “ears, mind, and heart” have been opened when it comes to Kaepernick kneeling during the anthem to protest against racial inequality in the United States.
“When Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem, I had strong feelings about it,” she wrote. “Even when he kept saying it had nothing to do with the flag or military, I didn’t listen. I kept not listening to him or anyone else and let the political rhetoric persuade me that him kneeling was disrespectful to our military.
“Over the past several months, I have opened my ears, mind, and heart and it has opened my eyes to see how wrong I was and for that I am sorry,” Stafford added.
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Kaepernick began taking a knee during the national anthem before his games as a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers back in 2016. The New York Post reported that one year later, Stafford took to Instagram to slam Kaepernick for the protests, believing kneeling during the anthem to be a sign of disrespect to the American flag and those who have fought and died for it.
“I’ve been hesitant to talk about this, as I know I will get backlash from it.. but I believe we can stand and show our unity against everything that doesn’t represent what this flag stands for. Let’s stand united against terrorists, against racism, against white supremacists, against killing of cops, against police brutality, against sex slave trafficking.. against anything that is not the ideal for this country,” Kelly penned.
“Let’s unite in the fact that God made us all unique and different and that is something we should cherish. You can disagree with me and that is totally ok.. let’s use this forum to discuss (not yell at each other) and listen to one another.”
However, Stafford changed her tune on Saturday to say that “this systematic racism is not going away unless we ALL work on it by working on ourselves and those around us. It’s time for everyone to do their part to help end this system.”
She added that she and her husband have made a $350,000 donation to “endow a social justice program” to their alma mater, the University of Georgia’s athletics department, going on to say that they believe this “was a good place to start.”
“We are proud to be a part of this program and we will keep fighting to help end this social injustice. Black Lives Matter,” Stafford concluded.
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.
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