San Francisco 49ers

Jerry Rice calls out Colin Kaepernick for 'disrespecting the flag'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:25 p.m. ET

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Brett Smiley

San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice shared some words for quarterback Colin Kaepernick on Monday night in response to the quarterback's controversial decision to sit for the National Anthem to protest racial injustice and policy brutality toward black people and people of color.

Wrote the 53-year-old Hall of Famer Rice:

Rice invoked the phrase "All lives matter," which is a retort to the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

Elsewhere, NFL legend and civil rights activist Jim Brown has voiced his support for Kaepernick:

"I listened to him and he makes all the sense in the world. He's within his rights and he's telling the truth as he sees it," Brown said. "I am with him 100 percent. ... Young men in my day really stepped up. ... These were champions for freedom, equality and justice for all humans beings, and they were educated individuals that used their education and knowledge to represent their case. So now 50 years later we have a young man saying something that was kind of taken for granted in our day. We were way past that. For me it's like going back in time."

The initial messages Rice received in response to his Twitter posting appear to be a mixture of exasperation and disappointment.

Last we've heard from Kaepernick, he said he intends to continue sitting out the National Anthem. His next opportunity will come at San Diego on Thursday in the team's final preseason game.

"I'm going to continue to sit," Kaepernick said on Sunday. "I'm going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. "To me, this is something that has to change and when there is significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it's supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand."

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