San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid isn’t satisfied with the arrangement reached by the NFL and a coalition of players headed by Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Boldin to address social causes.
Reid, Miami Dolphins safety Michael Thomas and Los Angeles Chargers tackle Russell Okung were among players to remove their support from the group was an agreement was reached on Wednesday. In an interview with Jeremy Stahl of Slate, Reid said one of his points of contention is that the league’s pledge to allocate $90-100 million for social causes isn’t new money being offered by the owners. Instead, the money would be reallocated from the league’s current initiatives for Breast Cancer Awareness and Salute to Service in honoring veterans.
“So it would really be no skin off the owners’ backs. They would just move the money from those programs to this one,” Reid said.
“We didn’t agree with that, because we weren’t trying to cut other worthy programs. They moved forward anyways.”
Reid questioned much of the process between the league and the Jenkins-led group along with the motives and end game plans of both sides. He feels very few players support the agreement reached with Jenkins and that there was an implicit understanding that players would cease protests in exchange for the money being allocated by the league.
“"It’s a charade,” Reid said.
Jenkins intends to stop raising a fist during the national anthem and Boldin said there’s no hard feelings toward any player that left the coalition. However, it’s clear Reid and others aren’t happy with the agreement and won’t feel bound to accept its parameters.