Michael Thomas wasn’t worried about being a “son of a bitch.” He was worried about his daughter.
The Dolphins safety, following a 20-6 loss to the Jets at MetLife Stadium, teetered on losing it while addressing the biggest protester of the national anthem protesters.
On a Sunday of side-picking across the league and country, after President Trump blasted the players who took a knee in objection to minority treatment in this country, Thomas fought tears, his voice straining as he talked about trying to effect change for his child.
“As a man, as a father, as an African-American man, as someone in the NFL, as one of those sons of bitches, yeah, I took it personally,” the fifth-year pro said. “But at the same time, like I said in my Twitter post, it’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than me — I got a daughter, she’s going to have to live in this world. I’m going to do whatever I’m going to do to make sure she can look at her daddy and be like, ‘Hey, you did something to try to make a change.'”
Thomas, who has followed Colin Kaepernick’s protesting lead since last year, was bewildered about where Trump’s attack came from.
“It just amazes me everything else that’s going in this world, especially involving the U.S., that’s what you’re concerned about, my man?” Thomas said. “You’re the leader of the free world, that’s what you’re talking about?”
Trump last week called out the NFL players who would not stand for the anthem, saying the league owners should fire any “son of a bitch” who took a knee.
