Antonio Cromartie was the only player on the Colts kneeling during the national anthem -- until he got cut, not long before Colts owner Jim Irsay said an NFL game is “the wrong venue” for such a protest. Cromartie’s wife thinks that’s why he got cut.
Cromartie himself hasn’t gone that far, but he did write on Instagram that he disagrees with any suggestion that he shouldn’t have made such a protest.
They say it’s not the right place or venue to do what is right and stand for what is right,” Cromartie wrote. “I guarantee that most of the people that’s sending me hate messages don’t even know the top 2 members that are leading in this country in homelessness. Well let me educate you. #1 Veterans #2 Children. But you guys care so much about the people that fought for this country. It’s crazy while I was Indiana I had a chance to talk to some veterans that didn’t have a problem with me taking a knee. Because they understood my reason behind it. I thank them my grandfather and my friends for their support who also served this country.”
Cromartie’s anthem protest surely won’t help him find another job, but it probably doesn’t hurt, either. NFL teams will gladly sign a good player regardless of his political leanings or expressions. Cromartie’s problem is that, at age 32, he’s no longer a good player. We have probably heard the last of him in the NFL, even if he still has important things to say off the field.