--- title: San Francisco 49ers Player Slams Trump for Protest Reaction description: San Francisco 49ers player Eric Reid said he began kneeling during the national anthem because he felt "furious, hurt and hopeless" canonical: https://time.com/4956926/eric-reid-san-francisco-49ers-donald-trump/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-26T12:15:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:35:39.308Z article:section: Sports og:title: NFL Player Says This Is What Trump Gets Wrong About Kneeling og:description: "It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful" og:url: https://time.com/4956926/eric-reid-san-francisco-49ers-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696dabe41e9a602b/6988df50e76ad2062762f4d8/eric-reid-kneeling-colin-kaepernick.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NFL Player Says This Is What Trump Gets Wrong About Kneeling twitter:description: "It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696dabe41e9a602b/6988df50e76ad2062762f4d8/eric-reid-kneeling-colin-kaepernick.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NFL Player Who Helped Start Kneeling Movement Says This Is What Trump Gets Wrong About It > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Sep 26, 2017 12:15 PM UTC  Eric Reid #35 of the San Francisco 49ers kneels during the anthem with the support of teammates prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Sept. 17, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. Eric Reid #35 of the San Francisco 49ers kneels during the anthem with the support of teammates prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Sept. 17, 2017 in Seattle, Washington.Michael Zagaris/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Sep 26, 2017 12:15 PM UTC San Francisco 49ers player Eric Reid said he began [kneeling during the national anthem](http://time.com/4955154/nfl-kneeling-unity-trump/) last year alongside former 49ers quarterback [Colin Kaepernick](http://time.com/4504014/colin-kaepernick-kneel/) because he felt “furious, hurt and hopeless” over recent police violence against black people. “We know that racism and white privilege are both very much alive today,” he wrote in a [New York _Times_ column](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/colin-kaepernick-football-protests.html?%5Fr=0) published on Monday. “And it’s disheartening and infuriating that President Trump has referred to us with slurs but the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va., as ‘very fine people.’ His remarks are a clear attempt to deepen the rift that we’ve tried so hard to mend.” Trump [called for NFL owners](http://time.com/4954684/donald-trump-nfl-speech-anthem-protests/) to fire players who protest by kneeling during the national anthem, prompting [more than 200 players](http://time.com/4955104/nfl-players-kneel-anthem-trump/) to kneel or sit during the anthem on Sunday. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired,'” Trump said Friday at a rally. The President has since repeatedly criticized the peaceful protests for “disrespecting” the flag and anthem. “It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel,” Reid wrote in the _Times_. “We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4956926/eric-reid-san-francisco-49ers-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4956926/eric-reid-san-francisco-49ers-donald-trump/"},"headline":"NFL Player Who Helped Start Kneeling Movement Says This Is What Trump Gets Wrong About It","datePublished":"2017-09-26T12:15:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:35:39.308Z","description":"\"It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful\"","url":"https://time.com/4956926/eric-reid-san-francisco-49ers-donald-trump/","keywords":["Football","White House","NFL","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696dabe41e9a602b/6988df50e76ad2062762f4d8/eric-reid-kneeling-colin-kaepernick.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696dabe41e9a602b/6988df50e76ad2062762f4d8/eric-reid-kneeling-colin-kaepernick.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawks","caption":"San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawks","creditText":"Michael Zagaris/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/football/","name":"Football"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4956926/eric-reid-san-francisco-49ers-donald-trump/","name":"NFL Player Who Helped Start Kneeling Movement Says This Is What Trump Gets Wrong About It"}}]}] ```