Miami Dolphins defensive end Robert Quinn blamed the media for fumbling coverage of his fist-raising demonstrations during the national anthem before NFL games.
“Y’all ignore it,” Quinn told the Miami Herald. “Because when I gave my first message on trying to bring unity, y’all swept it under the rug. It’s not me. When you don’t give a problematic story, y’all just ran away.”
Quinn’s demonstration, however, has received media attention. The Miami Herald themselves reported on it in April, and Sports Illustrated ran a special on his protest in August. SI has a circulation of over 3 million people.
Quinn, in his interview, invoked Cyntoia Brown, the then-16-year-old girl who was a teen prostitute in 2004. Brown was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a man who paid to have sex with her. Brown, now 30, shot him because she believed he was reaching for a gun. Brown’s case has been discussed as an example of minority offenders being given harsher sentences and treated unfairly.
Quinn isn’t the only Dolphins player demonstrating during the national anthem. Wide receiver Kenny Stills also demonstrates by kneeling on the sideline during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” similar to how former quarterback Colin Kaepernick did during his protests in the 2015 and 2016 NFL seasons. Kneeling has drawn significantly more ire from fans and political figures than the raising of fists.
However, when Stills was brought up to Quinn, Quinn wasn’t happy about the comparison.
“Man, I don’t have nothing to do with Kenny. That ain’t got nothing to do with me,” Quinn said. “All I’m saying is, my production went up because I’m just playing football and America’s got a lot of problems to fix within itself. Tell America to look itself in the mirror and the people who built it.”
It’s Week 17 in the 2018 NFL season, which marks the final week of the regular season before the playoffs start in January. However, the Dolphins, with a 7-8 record, won’t be competing in the playoffs after surrendering the AFC East division to the New England Patriots for a 10th consecutive season.
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