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Orioles center fielder Adam Jones has long been one of the best interviews in baseball. He's thoughtful, engaging, funny when it's the time and place, and serious when the situation calls for it. Oh, and he's always honest. He says what's on his mind. In the case of the latter two points, it was on display in an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Todayregarding the recent national anthem protests by some NFL players.

After noting that he is not going to do any sort of protest during the anthem and instead continue to stand at attention with his hand over his heart, Jones defended Colin Kaepernick against the backdrop of what America stands for.

[All blockquotes are from the USA Today story, which is far lengthier and has many more quotes from Jones]

"He believes in what he believes in,'' Jones says of Kaepernick, "and as a man of faith, as an American who has rights, who am I to say he's wrong?

"Kaepernick is not disrespecting the military. He's not disrespecting people who they're fighting. What he's doing is showing that he doesn't like the social injustice that the flag represents.

"Look, I know a lot of people who don't even know the words to the national anthem. You know how many times I see people stand up for the national anthem and not pay attention. They stand because they're told to stand.

"That's the problem. Just don't do something because you're told to do something. Do it because you understand the meaning behind it and the sacrifice behind it.''

And now, a key point about the possibility of misplaced priorities:

"Here's my thing,'' Jones says, "there's somebody on the 49ers' team that commits an act like that, accosts a 70-year-old man and his kid, and nobody's talking about that. But they talk about Kaepernick doing something that he believes in, as his right as an American citizen. People need to talk more about that guy than Kaepernick.

"He's not receiving the ridicule and public torture that Kaepernick is facing. Is Kaepernick hurting me? No. Is he hurting random people out there? No. I support his decision.

"At the end of the day, if you don't respect his freedoms, then why the hell are we Americans? It's supposed to be the Land of the Free, right?''

Jones speaks of Bruce Miller, who is alleged to have beaten up a 70-year-old man coming just a year after being arrested on suspicion of spousal abuse. He was a teammate of Kaepernick's until the latest arrest, when the 49ers released him.

No matter what you think of the protests during the anthem, I think we could all agree that far more vitriol is being directed at Kaepernick for doing something non-violent than toward a man who has been physically violent. This shouldn't even be up for discussion. Of course more anger has been directed at Kaepernick.

Jones also covers what he believes to the be the problem here in the public eye, which is the "stick to sports" mentality.

"We make a lot of money, so we just have to talk baseball, talk football. But most athletes, especially if you're tenured in your sport, you're educated on life, and on more things than most people on the outside. But because Donald Trump is a billionaire, he can say whatever he wants, because he's older and has more money?

"And when Kaepernick does something, or says something, he's ridiculed. Why is that? ''

As noted in the intro, Jones is pretty good at speaking his mind. He brings up fair points. Regardless of how we stand on the protest issue, it seems reasonable that we could at least listen to Jones' points instead of shouting him down.