#Kelly Stafford apologizes for ‘not listening’ to Colin Kaepernick’s protests

Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, apologized Saturday for previous criticisms directed towards Colin Kaepernick and his national anthem protests.

Taking to Instagram, Kelly said she has opened her “ears, mind, and heart,” over the past several months while reflecting on past reactions to Kaepernick’s stance.

“When Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem, I had strong feelings about it,” Kelly wrote. “Even when he kept saying it had nothing to do with the flag or military, I didn’t listen. I kept not listening to him or anyone else and let the political rhetoric persuade me that him kneeling was disrespectful to our military.

“Over the past several months, I have opened my ears, mind, and heart and it has opened my eyes to see how wrong I was and for that I am sorry.

Kaepernick protested racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem beginning in 2016, prompting a divisive response and putting his NFL future on the line. Kelly later addressed her beliefs at the time in a 2017 Instagram post.

“I’ve been hesitant to talk about this, as I know I will get backlash from it.. but I believe we can stand and show our unity against everything that doesn’t represent what this flag stands for. Let’s stand united against terrorists, against racism, against white supremacists, against killing of cops, against police brutality, against sex slave trafficking.. against anything that is not the ideal for this country,” Kelly penned.

“Let’s unite in the fact that God made us all unique and different and that is something we should cherish. You can disagree with me and that is totally ok.. let’s use this forum to discuss (not yell at each other) and listen to one another.”

Kelly added Saturday that “this systematic racism is not going away unless we ALL work on it by working on ourselves and those around us. It’s time for everyone to do their part to help end this system.”

Sharing a post from the NFL’s Instagram account, noting the Stafford family’s $350,000 donation to “endow a social justice program” to their alma mater, the University of Georgia’s athletics department, Kelly said she and the Lions quarterback believed this “was a good place to start.”

“We are proud to be a part of this program and we will keep fighting to help end this social injustice. Black Lives Matter,” she added.