Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith praised former San Francisco 49ers teammate Colin Kaepernick on Friday during an appearance on Kyle Brandt's 10 Questions podcast.
Smith said he is "proud" of Kaepernick and expressed his belief that Kaepernick unfairly paid the price for kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 because "the country wasn't ready" to address social justice issues:
Kyle Brandt“Great dude” “Really quiet” “Respectful” “Incredibly brave” “Tragic” “The country wasn’t ready” Alex Smith reflects on a young Colin Kaepernick. @Kaepernick7 Full ep: https://t.co/mfnJSnFJNq https://t.co/EckLfoJjA9
Smith added:
"He's sitting there trying to tell everybody through a completely peaceful manner about some of the things going on in this country that had been going on for a long time, and to see the backlash that happened, it hurts.