US National Football League Player Aaron Rodgers Supports Colin Kaepernick

U.S. NFL player, Aaron Rodgers, has shown support for Colin Kaepernick's protest of kneeling while the U.S. national anthem is played. Rodgers also slammed the fact that no professional team has signed Kaepernick to play this upcoming season.

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“I think he should be on a roster right now,” says Rodgers. He added that “I think because of his protests” Kaepernick remains unsigned and that it would be "ignorant" to believe otherwise.

Speaking to ESPN the Magazine, Rodgers noted that while he will not take a knee when the national anthem is played prior to the start of each game, he considers Kaepernick's and other players stance as positive protests.

The former San Francisco 49ers player became a controversial figure last year after he refused to stand for the national anthem in what he called a protest against the oppression of people of color.

When asked what does the U.S. flag represents to him, Rodgers said that it's a symbol honoring the country's “greatest ideals.” He also emphasized that he thinks about the “men and women in uniform right now who are out there protecting our freedom” and that it fills him with lots of “thanks and pride in those people.”

For that reason, Rodgers affirmed that when the national anthem is played he would “stand because that's the way I feel about the flag, but I'm also 100 percent supportive of my teammates or any fellow players who are choosing not to,” he said.

Rodgers, who plays for the Green Bay Packers and won the championship U.S. football game in 2010, mentioned that he's talked to fellow teammate Martellus Bennet about the issues related to the protests.

Questioned about those issues, Rodgers paused, gathered his thoughts and said, “I think the best way I can say this is: I don't understand what it's like to be in that situation. What it is to be pulled over or profiled or any number of issues that have happened, that Colin was referencing, or any of my teammates have talked to me about.”

Rodgers added, “But I know it's a real thing my black teammates have to deal with.”