Advertisement

Nebraska governor says he'll meet with protesting Huskers player

Three Nebraska players kneel during the national anthem vs. Northwestern (AP).
Three Nebraska players kneel during the national anthem vs. Northwestern (AP).

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said via Twitter that he would like to meet with one of Nebraska football players he criticized for kneeling during the national anthem prior to last Saturday’s game against Northwestern.

Michael Rose-Ivey, DaiShon Neal and Mohamed Barry, three African-American players, kneeled to protest racial injustice. Ricketts called the act “disgraceful” and “disrespectful,” which prompted a tweet from Rose-Ivey.

Ricketts responded to the request late Tuesday night.

Ricketts’ comments about the protest came as a response to a caller to his weekly radio show: “Generations of men and women have died to give them that right to protest. I think the way they chose to protest was disgraceful and disrespectful.”

Ricketts wasn’t the only one critical of the protest. Two members of the Nebraska Board of Regents lashed out, saying using a football game as a place of protest was bad judgment. Regent Hal Daub said players who protest should lose their scholarships.

“They know better, and they had better be kicked off the team,” he added. “They won’t take the risk to exhibit their free speech in a way that places their circumstance in jeopardy, so let them get out of uniform and do their protesting on somebody else’s nickel.”

Daub continued: “Those publicity seeking athletes ought to rethink the forum in which they chose to issue their personal views at the expense of everyone else.”

Daub later said he didn’t say the players needed to be kicked off the team.

University president Hank Bounds stressed that no actions would be taken against players who exercised their first amendment rights.

Rose-Ivey said in a statement Monday that he and his family had received death threats via social media since Saturday night.

Coach Mike Riley supported the three players.

“Mike is a very, very thoughtful person, and I think he’s a very aware person,” Riley said. “These thoughts obviously didn’t come overnight, nor did the actions he used on Saturday.

“I think that everybody should be reminded that there’s lots of differences in people. I’ve got 140 kids on the football team and they’re all different in their own beautiful way. Everybody should be reminded that this is America and we have an opportunity and right to be able to basically say what we feel and how we’re feeling and why we’re feeling that way. Mike did a great job of that and he should be respected through that.”

For more Nebraska news, visit HuskerOnline.com.

Popular college football video on Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!