Ron Rivera has already said his piece about the flag, and Colin Kaepernick’s right to take a knee through the national anthem if he pleases.
But the Panthers coach might have to see it again this weekend, along with facing some other social issues he would rather not have to deal with.
Via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review, Rivera was asked Thursday about the NCAA and ACC pulling championship games out of North Carolina — including the ACC football title game at Bank of America Stadium — Rivera made it clear he’d prefer to stay out of such discussions, equating the current HB2 debate to the 1980 Olympic boycott.
“I didn’t think it was fair. We were using sports as pawns. We weren’t happy with the politics in Russia. What did they do? They were invading Afghanistan,” Rivera said. “To me, it’s about sports. People come to the stadium to get away.
“As far as I’m concerned, sports is sports and politics is politics. You want to talk politics; you want to get involved — throw your hat in the political ring. You want to make change — vote. Vote. That’s the truth of the matter.”
Whether fairly or unfairly, the focus we place on sports and the around the clock coverage has caused the line between entertainment and politics to blur. And as long as players such as Kaepernick are going to leverage the attention they can receive for their causes, it’s going to force more thoughtful people (including Rivera) to have to talk about it.