Dolphins owner fully supported players taking knee during national anthem

Defensive back Michael Thomas said that Stephen Ross had his back '100 percent'

Colin Kaepernick is currently a free agent. Depending on who you ask, it’s because teams are scared off by the possible backlash that might come with signing him -- both from fans and the President of the United States -- or because he’s just not a very good quarterback. Or that he’s a vegan. 

Kaepernick, you might remember, began the 2016 season by taking a knee during the national anthem. It was how he chose to protest social inequality. It was also a controversial decision, one that transcended the sports world. But Kaepernick wasn’t alone in his form of protest after other players across the league joined him in kneeling, includinng members of the Miami Dolphins. And according to Dolphins defensive back Michael Thomas, he and his teammates had the full support of owner Stephen Ross.

Thomas says he was struggling with whether to take a knee -- he wanted to protest but also recognized that it would offend some people -- and he talked to Ross about it.

Thomas remembers the owner saying, “I’ve got y’all’s back 100 percent.”

“I remember that like it was yesterday,” Thomas told Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post. “With everything racing through our minds, trying to decide if that was something we would actually go through with, of taking a knee ... September 11th -- that’s a whole different aspect. I saw Mr. Ross come in the locker room. I’m going up to him, trying to explain to him in a way, letting him know, like, ‘Look, we’re thinking about doing this, thinking about taking a knee.’

“And for him to stop me and say, ‘Look, Mike, whatever y’all choose to do today, I’ve got y’all’s back 100 percent’ -- that’s a testament to what type of person he is, how he truly feels about equality for all, and the efforts he’s made with the RISE program. It’s great to have the owner of the Dolphins have that perspective.”

RISE -- the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality -- was created in 2015 to to improve race relations and drive social progress through sports.

It’s also worth noting that Ross was the only NFL owner to vote against the Raiders moving from Oakland to Las Vegas.

“My position today was that we as owners and as a league owe it to the fans to do everything we can to stay in the communities that have supported us until all options have been exhausted,” Ross said last week from the owners meetings.