Jason Whitlock says what NFL players are afraid to admit about Kaepernick’s protest

Sports critic Jason Whitlock assailed the "stupidity" of Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest while explaining that NFL players are likely afraid to speak out against him over fear of the backlash.

"I wanna know why NFL players aren't offering voices of dissent," Whitlock said to Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show Monday night.

"There are NFL players, black and white," he said, "who know that if you really want to address police brutality, social injustice, inequality in this country, protesting the national anthem is the perfect way for your message to get completely lost.

"If Colin Kaepernick or any of these players," he added, "if you're a starting NFL quarterback, you have a huge platform and an opportunity to go on any TV, any radio show you want, any newspaper magazine article you want, and you can legitimately voice your complaints.

"If you protest during the national anthem," he explained, "of course, there are gonna be a massive amount of people that never hear a word you say, won't understand your message at all, and you can't tell me that there aren't NFL players who recognize the stupidity of the style of protest Colin Kaepernick has chosen, but they're all afraid to say it because of the backlash.

"So again, the cowardice or the real fear is stating the truth about the idiocy about what Kaepernick has done," he concluded. "That's where the backlash has come from, and people are afraid to voice that."

.@WhitlockJason on NFL national anthem protests: "Protesting the national anthem is the perfect way for your message to get completely lost" pic.twitter.com/YJqOvL8hEs

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 22, 2017

The controversy of the nation anthem protest flared up again after many criticized NFL owners for not adding Kaepernick to their roster as a backup quarterback.

Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King said that blacks and all Americans should boycott the NFL over their blackballing of Kaepernick because of his protests.

Whitlock is a former ESPN contributor, but he's frequently assailed for his politically incorrect opinions about politics in sports.