BOSTON (WHDH) - Racism and gender were the main topics of discussion Friday at the “What’s Next in Sports” panel discussion at Boston University.
New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty made an appearance and took the microphone to discuss his own experiences with racism, saying he thinks the issue has evolved, but it hasn’t gone away.
He even explained that he’s experienced racism in Massachusetts.
“When I first got up here, I was at Stop and Shop in Foxboro, and there was an older white lady that walked by. I’m thinking stop, be a gentleman and let her go first,” McCourty said. “She just stopped and grilled me up and down.”
And when it comes to fellow NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s controversial decision to sit during the national anthem in protest of wrong doings against African Americans, McCourty says he has a lot of respect for him.
“To go out there and be the first guy to do that. A lot of us did things after and fell in line with him but nobody received the backlash like he did and had to go through what he had to go through,” McCourty said.
Kaepernick has still not been signed to a team for this upcoming season, something McCourty says has a lot to do with public opinion.
Public opinion also being something he says contributed to Deflategate.
“If you think back to Deflategate, which really made no sense. But the public opinion says Brady cheated.”
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