San Francisco 49ers

A confused Rodney Harrison says Colin Kaepernick 'is not black'

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

Dan Graf

NBC analyst and former NFL star Rodney Harrison entered the Colin Kaepernick national anthem debate in the most awkward way Tuesday, and it only got worse as the day went on.

Appearing on Sports Talk 790 AM in Houston on Tuesday morning, Harrison commented on whether Kaepernick – who cited the nation’s oppression of African-Americans for his decision to sit during the anthem before a Friday preseason game – is right in taking such a stance:

"I tell you this, I'm a black man. And Colin Kaepernick — he's not black. He can not understand what I face and what other young black men and black people face, or people of color face, on a every single (day) basis. When you walk in a grocery store, and you might have $2,000 or $3,000 in your pocket and you go up in to a Foot Locker and they're looking at you like you about to steal something.”

When asked to elaborate on that claim, Harrison said this:

"I’m not saying that he has to be black. I said his heart is in the right place, but even with what he’s doing, he still doesn’t understand that we face as a black man or people of color, that’s what I’m saying."

Of course, Kaepernick was adopted at birth, but his biological father is black and his biological mother is white. Somehow, this all confused Harrison to the point he started issuing apologies when it was clear no one could understand why he didn’t think Kaepernick was a person of color.

Confused? So are we. And so is Harrison, apparently.