Colin Kaepernick gets standing ovation at U.S. Open

Serena and Venus Williams weren’t the only stars at Arthur Ashe stadium on Friday night.

Also in attendance were quarterback Colin Kaepernick and safety Eric Reid. Both received standing ovations from the New York crowd when their images were shown on the video board.

Kaepernick also posted a photo of himself, Reid and his young niece meeting Serena in the locker room after her 6-1, 6-2 win over Venus. In an interview with Time Magazine this month, Serena spoke out in support of Kaepernick who hasn’t played in the NFL since end of the 2016 season, the same year he began kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial inequality.

Serena, who has also spoken out about social justice and police brutality, stated in the interview with Sean Gregory that she believed if Kaepernick were given a chance, he would win a Super Bowl.

“He’d have so much to prove,” she said. “I would. I can’t imagine he would be any different. ‘Man I’m about to show out. Y’all gonna see stuff you’ve never seen before.”

Kaepernick’s collusion grievance against the NFL will proceed to a hearing an arbitrator ruled earlier this week. The former 49ers quarterback is accusing the league of colluding to keep him off the field because of his kneeling during the national anthem.

Kaepernick’s and Reid’s attorney Mark Geragos posted on Twitter after their standing ovation that “the poor souls who don’t realize [Kaepernick and Reid] are American Icons are about to be given a rude forearm shiver.”

Serena offered more thoughts on both Reid and Kaepernick in her post game press conference, praising both for their humanitarian efforts.

“I think every athlete, every human, and definitely every African-American should be completely grateful and honored how Colin and Eric are doing so much more for the greater good,” she said. “They really use their platform in ways that is really unfathomable.”