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Michael Thomas – September 24, 2017 (Postgame) Download PDF version

Sunday, September 24, 2017
Postgame – New York Jets

Dolphins S Michael Thomas (transcribed by the New York Jets)

On when he learned Adam Gase and Stephen Ross would join them in locking arms during the national anthem….
I knew immediately after the comments by the president.  We didn’t want to have a team meeting about it but we knew it had to be addressed.  It was completely different than the meeting we had last year in Seattle.  Last year, nobody in the NFL was saying anything publicly supporting us.  To see it now and where we are today, you can’t tell me we haven’t made a difference.

On his last communication with Colin Kaepernick…
Probably last year when I took a knee.  It’s been a while.  We don’t talk often. We “like” each other’s posts on social media and show support that way but we don’t talk every day.

On why he locked arms during the anthem instead of kneeling…
Once we decided as a team to do something, this includes black players and white players saying, “what can we do?” some said they didn’t want to take a knee but wanted to support.  Nobody was opposed to locking arms. Some players wanted to take a knee.  For me, it was big to have everybody who didn’t support us last year or who might have been against us last year to be with us now.  That includes the coaching staff and ownership.

On if locking arms instead of kneeling will lessen criticism…
People are going to criticize regardless.  But it does take a little of the heat away because it’s not just one or two players, it’s an entire organization.

On if locking arms during the anthem will last the entire season…
This wasn’t the original plan.  This year we were going to focus on what we do in the community.  Things change quickly. On Wednesday, we did a piece with Tony Dungy that might air on Sunday Night Football where we said we weren’t going to take a knee this year but work in the community.  But Friday night comes, the president makes those comments, and things change.  To see the progress and see how many people have joined this conversation is huge.

On his first thoughts after learning about the president’s comments…
It just amazed me that with everything going on in the world, especially in the United States, and this is what you’re concerned about?  As a man, a father, an African-American man, as someone in the NFL who you called a “SOB”, I took it personally.  But its’ bigger than me.  I have a daughter, she must live in this world.  I want to make sure she can look at her dad and say he tried to make a change.

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