Free-agent safety Eric Reid over the past few days has been using his Twitter account to call out the NFL and its teams for what he views as empty statements on the police killing of George Floyd and the ensuing global protests of racial injustice. In his response to the 49ers' participation in Blackout Tuesday, for example, he included the dictionary definition of hypocrisy.
So when the league on Thursday night shared its plans to donate more money to what it considers "worthy organizations" to "address systemic racism," the 28-year-old admitted he didn't even know where to start.
MORE: Reid calls out VP Mike Pence for protest tweets
"This is a time of self-reflection for us all," the NFL's statement read. "The NFL is no exception. We stand with the black community because Black Lives Matter."
To which Reid responded:
"In your self reflection you chose to tell us that you donated .00275% of your 2019 revenue of roughly $16B to the causes you care so deeply for. Yet you have not denounced the police 4 their history of murder nor have you addressed your own oppressive constructs ...
"In your self reflection, you didn’t come 2 the conclusion 2 apologize for your numerous attempts 2 subvert the very movement that you now claim 2 be a part of, including but not limited to: breaking your own protocols in an attempt to force us from kneeling and blackballing Colin (Kaepernick) ...
"In your self reflection, you didn’t feel the need to reconcile your aforementioned actions. You aren’t trying to change the system. You are the system."
To date we have donated $44 million to support hundreds of worthy organizations. This year, we are committing an additional $20 million to these causes and we will accelerate efforts to highlight their critical work.
— NFL (@NFL) June 4, 2020
We know that we can and need to do more.
Consistent with his criticism of the NFL, Reid on May 30 responded to 49ers CEO Jed York's donation of $1 million "to local and national organizations who are creating change" by calling the effort diluted.
"Nobody wants your money Jed," Reid said. "We want justice. We’ve always wanted justice." Added Reid in another tweet later in the day: "I see that a lot of y’all think that it takes money to get justice. It does not. It takes money to facilitate injustice. Justice is easy, the system chooses not to give it."
As for the first statement the NFL released last weekend, prompting widespread accusations of hypocrisy and mentions of Kaepernick's name, Reid's response was simple and sarcastic: "I'm looking forward to 'Songs of the Season 2.0.'"
MORE: The timeline of Kaepernick's protest of injustice
Reid, of course, played for the 49ers when Kaepernick began sitting and then kneeling during the national anthem of games in protest of racial injustice and police brutality. Reid was the first player to join Kaepernick in protest and did so throughout the 2016 season before the quarterback opted out of his contract that March. Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since, but Reid, who played for the Panthers the past two seasons, has continued with the method of protest.
Kaepernick and Reid settled collusion grievances against the NFL last February. Before he was signed by Carolina in 2018, Reid had felt he was blackballed by NFL teams the same way Kaepernick has been for three years.
So it's interesting that Reid, still a very good player, remains a free agent in June.