Marshawn Lynch has perhaps the best Colin Kaepernick take yet

It wasn’t a long speech by Marshawn Lynch on Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest, but it was a smart one.

The former Seattle Seahawks running back, appearing on “Conan” with Conan O’Brien, had a measured response to the protests by Kaepernick and others over racial injustice and police brutality, and he got everyone’s attention with his first comment.

“I’d rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered,” Lynch said.

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Then Lynch offered the rest of his reply, and it’s hard to argue with it.

“My take on it is, [expletive] has to start somewhere,” Lynch said. “If that was the starting point, I just hope people open their eyes to see there’s really a problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop. If you’re really not racist, you won’t see what he’s doing as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have.”

Most of the anger and hostility has come from those who oppose Kaepernick’s protest, while people like Kaepernick, Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall and Lynch have presented calm, well thought-out reasons for the movement. The loudest critics I’ve heard from don’t appear to have taken the time to listen to what the players are saying, or choose to ignore it and instead rely on misinformation or misguided arguments to make their points.

The more people like Lynch offer rational, perceptive comments on why the players are protesting, perhaps their message will start to get through to everyone.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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