Kaepernick told reporters on Wednesday that “it is disappointing to hear a Supreme Court justice call a protest against injustices and oppression ‘stupid, dumb’ in reference to players doing that.”

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback said that “people are getting too caught up in the flag.”

“At the end of the day, the flag is just a piece of cloth and I am not going to value a piece of cloth over people’s lives,” he said. That’s just not something I can do, it’s not something I feel morally right doing and my character won’t allow me to do that.”