Hank Aaron: Colin Kaepernick Is 'Getting A Raw Deal'

ATLANTA, GA — Home run king and Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron is speaking up in support of Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback who stoked controversy by kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality toward minorities.

Journalist Roland Martin has posted a YouTube video of Aaron, speaking in Atlanta last weekend, saying he feels NFL owners are freezing Kaepernick out of a job because of his political stance.

“I think he’s getting a raw deal," said Aaron, who himself endured racially charged death threats as he chased Babe Ruth's Major League home run record, which he would break in 1974.

"I've been watching pro ball for a long time. If you look at all the quarterbacks in the League right now, I think you’d have to say he’s 1, 2, 3, 4 — I don’t think anybody can do the things he can do. I just wish somebody would open up and give him a chance to do his thing and say, 'Hey, he's entitled to whatever he did.' "

Kaepernick, who had been relegated to a backup role with the San Francisco 49ers last season, opted out of his contract with the team this spring. Since then, he has not signed a contract with any other team.

"I think this decision is coming from the owners. I don’t think it’s coming from the general managers ...,” Aaron said in the video.

"Here's a young player who almost carried a team to a championship, the Super Bowl ... ," he said. "I think somebody ought to give this young man a chance."

Kaepernick, 29, became the 49ers starter in the middle of the 2012 NFL season. He led the team to the Super Bowl, which they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, and helped carry them to the NFC Championship game the following year.

On Wednesday, more than 1,000 people rallied in support of Kaepernick outside NFL headquarters in New York City. The same day, the NAACP called for a meeting with the NFL to discuss his situation.

Supporters claim Kaepernick is being blackballed by NFL owners because of his political stand, which inspired other NFL players to kneel during the anthem, in protest of police violence toward minorities, both last season and during this year's preseason games.

Some critics say politics has no place in professional sports, while others maintain that it is Kaepernick's diminishing skill set, not his politics, that has kept him from landing a new job.

In the Atlanta interview, Aaron said he's pleased that other professional athletes are taking a stand against police violence.

“I’d love to see some other players stand up. I would love that," Aaron said. "I think it would give (Kaepernick) some incentive. I think it would help him."

Aaron told Martin that he has spoken with Kaepernick since controversy over his anthem kneeling erupted.

Now 83, Aaron was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1976. He was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2002.

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