THE OTHER GROUP DIDN'T HAVE A PERMIT.
>> NOW, 2017 ALSO SAW A COLLISION BETWEEN POLITICS AND
SPORTS. >> WOULDN'T YOU LOVE TO SEE ONE
OF THESE NFL OWNERS WHEN SOMEBODY DISRESPECTS OUR FLAG TO
SAY GET THAT SON OF A [ BLEEP ] OFF THE FIELD RIGHT NOW?
OUT, HE'S FIRED. HE'S FIRED.
>> YEAH, COLIN KAEPERNICK OBVIOUSLY GOT UNDER THE
PRESIDENT'S SKIN THIS YEAR. JOINING US FROM WASHINGTON,
D.C., A SPORTS EDITOR FOR THE NATION, DAVE SIREN.
DAVE SAYS HE STRAYED FROM HIS USUAL FORMULA OF REVIEWING THE
YEAR OF SPORTS AND POLITICS WRITE, QUOTE, NOW IN 2017, WE'VE
REACHED ANOTHER PLACE. AS THE ME TOO MOVEMENT HAS
BECOME A PART OF THE SPORTS RHETORIC OF RESISTANCE BUT THIS
HAS ALSO BEEN THE YEAR OF THE BACKLASH.
OPEN UGLY RACISM AIMED AT ATHLETES WHO RECOGNIZED THAT IN
HISTORICAL MOMENTS SUCH AS THIS ONE, THEY NEED TO DO MORE THAN
JUST SHUT UP AND PLAY. DAVE, ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE YOU.
SUCH A THOUGHT PROVOKING PIECE. TELL ME SORT OF WHAT GOT YOU IN
THIS FRAME OF MIND. WAS THERE ONE PARTICULAR
INCIDENT? WAS IT COLIN KAEPERNICK?
WAS IT JUST IN GENERAL WHAT WE'VE SEEN OVER THE COURSE OF
THE YEAR? >> YES, I MEAN, I SPEAK TO A LOT
OF NFL PLAYERS, PARTICULARLY THE ONES WHO HAVE BEEN PART OF THESE
PROTESTS THIS YEAR. KNEELING OR SITTING OR RAISING
THEIR FIST DURING THE ANTHEM TO PROTEST POLICE BRUTALITY AND
RACIAL INEQUALITY. THE THING THAT REALLY STRUCK
WITH ME WAS WHEN DONALD TRUMP MADE THAT SPEECH IN HUNTSVILLE,
ALABAMA WHERE HE USED VULGARITY ABOUT THE PLAYERS AND SAID THEY
SHOULD BE FIRED AND FORCED TO STAND FOR THE ANTHEM, THAT THE
REACTION OF THAT IN THE LIVES OF THESE PLAYER WAS SO INTENSE,
WHETHER IT WAS SOCIAL MEDIA HARASSMENT, WHETHER IT WAS
ACTUAL DEATH THREATS AGAINST THEIR FAMILY.
WHETHER IT WAS HAVING TO HIRE SECURITY AROUND THEIR HOUSES.
THESE PLAYERS FELT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PRESSURE.
AND YET WITHIN THIS INCREDIBLE UGLY STORY, TO ME I FOUND
SOMETHING THAT GAVE ME MORE HOPE THAN ALMOST ANYTHING IN 2017.
ONE OF THE CONCERNS OF THE PLAYERS WAS THAT ONCE DONALD
TRUMP MADE THAT SPEECH, EVERYTHING WOULD BECOME ABOUT
TRUMP. AND THE MESSAGE OF THE PROTESTS
WOULD BE COMPLETELY LOST. AND YET A POLL TAKEN A MONTH
LATER BY HUFFINGTON POST AND YOU GOV SHOWED THAT MORE PEOPLE IN
THE UNITED STATES UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE PROTESTS WERE ABOUT BY
A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT MARGIN AFTER TRUMP MADE THOSE REMARKS
THAN BEFORE. THAT'S BECAUSE THESE NFL
PLAYERS, YOU KNOW, WHO ARE OFTEN STEREOTYPED AT JOCKS, YOU KNOW,
WHO DON'T KNOW ANYTHING AND ARE ONLY GOOD FOR SELLING ADS OR
SPORTS DRINKS, THEY WERE TENACIOUS ON SHOWS LIKE THIS
ONE, ON OTHER NATIONAL NEWS PROGRAMS OF NOT TAKING THE BAIT
AND MAKING THIS ABOUT TRUMP VERSUS THE ATHLETES.
BUT STAYING ON MESSAGE ABOUT POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACIAL
INEQUALITY. AND I THINK THERE'S A LESSON IN
THERE TAUGHT BY THE JOCKS TO ALL OF US THAT WHEN YOU JUST ENTER
THE SOCIAL MEDIA BUBBLE OF BACK AND FORTH JIBE, WE DON'T REALLY
GET ANYWHERE IN TERMS OF ADVANCING EITHER POLICY OR
POLITICAL ARGUMENTS. >> DAVE, LET ME ASK YOU REALLY
QUICKLY ABOUT SOME OF THE ACCUSATIONS THAT THE PRESIDENT'S
COMMENTS HAVE HAD RACIAL UNDERTONES TO THEM.
>> SURE. >> WHEN YOU THINK OF SOME OF THE
COMMENTS MADE BY THE ATHLETES AND MANY OF THEM PROMINENT BLACK
ATHLETES. HE'S DENIED THIS HAS ANYTHING TO
DO WITH THAT RACE. IN SOME OF THE EVIDENCE THAT HAS
BEEN CITED HERE IN THE ARTICLE IT SEEMS THERE'S A RACIAL
UNDERTONE WITH THE WAY THE PRESIDENT IS RESPONDING TO THE
CRITICISM FROM THESE ATHLETES. >> YES, LOOK, IT'S NOT A DOG
WHISTLE, IT'S AN AIR RAID SIREN. IF YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THE
PEOPLE IN THE SPORTS WORLD WHO HAVE BEEN THE MOST CRITICAL OF
DONALD TRUMP, YOU HAVE PEOPLE LIKE GREGG POPOVICH, THE COACH
OF THE SPURS. STEVE KERR, THE COACH OF THE
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS. NO RESPONSE FROM DONALD TRUMP TO
EITHER OF THEM. THEY HAPPEN TO BE WHITE.
THE PEOPLE WHO HE'S RESPONDED TO ARE PEOPLE LIKE COLIN
KAEPERNICK, JAMAL HILL FROM ESPN, LA VAR BALL OF COURSE.
THERE'S THIS FOCUS, THIS HONING IN ON, QUOTE/UNQUOTE, UNGRATEFUL
PEOPLE IN THE SPORTS WORLD WHO ARE BLACK.
I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THIS IS A VERY OLD PLAYBOOK IN THIS
COUNTRY. IT DATES BACK TO JACK JOHNSON
WHO WAS CONDEMNED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS.
THE FIRST BLACK HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION.
THIS IDEA WHEN YOU FOCUS ON BLACK ATHLETE, WHAT YOU DO IS
YOU FEED WHITE RESENTMENT BECAUSE IT'S ANGER WHETHER IT'S
THEIR SALARY OR FAME OR THIS IDEA THEY SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR
HAVING THESE OPPORTUNITIES AS IF THEY HAVEN'T WORKED FOR THEM AND
ARE ONE IN, YOU KNOW, A MILLION PEOPLE WHO WILL HAVE THE SKILL
AND ABILITY TO ACHIEVE THAT PLATEAU.
>> IN THE ARTICLE, YOU TALK ABOUT ATHLETES PAST WHO HAVE HAD
A VERY BIG IMPACT ON THE CONVERSATION, WHETHER IT WAS
MUHAMMAD ALI OR JACKIE ROBINSON OR BILLIE JEAN KING.
HAVING SAID THAT, YOU HAD AN INTERESTING QUOTE FROM MARK
TWAIN WHICH IS HISTORY DOESN'T REPEAT ITSELF BUT IT DOES RHYME.
EXPLAIN THAT. >> NO, ABSOLUTELY.
BECAUSE I THINK OFTENTIMES YOU SEE PEOPLE COMPARE COLIN
KAEPERNICK TO SOMEONE LIKE MUHAMMAD ALI OR VENUS AND SERENA
WILLIAMS TO PEOPLE LIKE BILLIE JEAN KING AND PEOPLE CLAP BACK
AT THAT SAYING THAT WAS DIFFERENT TIMES, MUHAMMAD ALI
WAS FACING TIME IN PRISON FOR OPPOSING THE DRAFT OR BILLIE
JEAN KING WAS ON THE FIRST WAVE OF THE WOMEN'S LIBERATION
MOVEMENT IN THE '70s, IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
AND THE ANSWER IS YES, IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IN SOME
RESPECTS BUT IN OTHER RESPECTS WE HAVE SO MUCH TO LEARN FROM
THIS HISTORY AS WELL AND WE CAN BUILD UPON THE HISTORY OF
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS OF ACTIVIST ATHLETES TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY
HOW TO KEEP PUSHING FORWARD SPORTS AS A PLATFORM FOR SOCIAL
CHANGE BUT ALSO KEEP PUSHING FORWARD THE VERY IDEA THAT YOU
DON'T SIGN AWAY, YOU KNOW, YOUR RIGHT TO CITIZENSHIP OR TO HAVE
A POLITICAL OPINION JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ATHLETE AS WELL AS HOW
TO NAVIGATE BACKLASHES. >> YOU SPOKE ABOUT HOW SOME OF
THE PLAYERS NEEDED SECURITY IN THE AFTERMATH OF TRUMP SIGNALING
THEM OUT AT THAT RALLY IN ALABAMA.
I ALSO FOUND JUST AS DISTURBING IN THAT RALLY HE SAID THAT NFL
PLAYERS WEREN'T BEING HIT AS HARD.
AND HE WAS SOMEWHERE -- IT SEEMED HE WAS ENDORSING CT, YOU
KNOW, CONCUSSIONS. IT SEEMED HE WAS ENDORSING BRAIN
DAMAGE FOR THESE PLAYERS AND FOR THE PLAYERS NOT TO BE PROTECTED.
HOW DID THE PLAYERS RESPOND TO THAT?
>> THAT WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE THINGS THAT UPSET THE PLAYERS
THE MOST WHEN I SPOKE TO THEM. ONE THING EVERY PLAYER LIVES
WITH NOW IS THIS EXESPIN CHUL FEAR THAT THEIR BRAIN IS
DISINTEGRATING WHEN THEY TAKE THE FIELD.
IT'S SOMETHING THEY LIVE WITH AND THEIR FAMILIES LIVE WITH.
AND DONALD TRUMP WHO NEVER PLAYED FOOTBALL -- I MEAN,
FRANKLY, IT'S NOT -- WHILE I LOATHE COMPARISONS TO FOOTBALL
AND WAR, WHICH FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE MAKE, THERE IS A
COMPARISON THERE OF DONALD TRUMP, SOMEONE WHO BOTH NEVER
FOUGHT IN OUR MILITARY BUT ALSO NEVER PLAYED FOOTBALL, SPEAKING
ABOUT IT AS A VIE CARIOUS OBSERVER AND CALLING FOR MORE
VIOLENCE WHILE HAVING NO SYMPATHY OR EMPATHY OR DIALOGUE
WITH THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO ACTUALLY TAKE THE FIELD.
>> ABSOLUTELY B