Former San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid received major kudos from Serena Williams Friday night (Aug. 31) when the two attended her U.S.Open match with big sister, Venus.
Kaepernick and Reid received a standing ovation from the audience when they were introduced and placed on the jumbo screen. Serena, who won the match beating Venus 6-1, and 6-2 in both sets, said she didn’t know Reid and Kaepernick were in the audience but later thanked them for their activism and sacrifice.
“I think every athlete, every human and definitely every African-American should be completely grateful and honored how Colin and Eric are doing so much more for the greater good, so to say,” Serena said. “They really use their platform in ways that is really unfathomable. I feel like they obviously have great respect from a lot of their peers, especially other athletes, people that really are looking for social change.”
Both football players have yet to be drafted onto a NFL team after they took a knee during a pre-season game with the Seattle Seahawks to protest police brutality. An arbitrator ruled in Kaepernick’s favor sending his grievance with the NFL to trial that the league conspired to keep him out of the league.
READ MORE: Serena Williams Calls Out Frequent Random Drugs Tests ‘Discrimination’