Chad Johnson Believes Colin Kaepernick's NFL Protest Has Been 'Politically Whitewashed'

Chad Johnson believes the NFL has co-opted Colin Kaepernick's original protest and turned it into the opposite of what it represented.

Speaking with TMZ, the former NFL wide receiver said that Colin Kaepernick's protest has been "politically whitewashed from why it started in the first place," with the taking a knee movement now "a goddamn Ice Bucket Challenge."

"We're not kneeling for the same reasons that Kaepernick kneeled for 14 months ago," Johnson added. "It's completely different."

READ: Cleveland Browns Ride Out For Colin Kaepernick By Kneeling During National Anthem

The protest that started with Kaepernick kneeling during a game in San Diego last year when he was still a part of the San Francisco 49ers, has changed this year, with players and coaches locking arms, as well as kneeling on both knees not as a means of protest but praying. Such has been the case for former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, whose kneeling at a recent game in London to pray was misinterpreted as a protest against the national anthem and the flag.

"You hear people saying, 'Oh, he took a knee.' I absolutely did not take a knee…I'm watching young kids just confused. Everybody confused. Nobody don't know what they're talking about," Lewis said during a recent appearance on Showtime's Inside The NFL. "What I'm gonna do if I'm gonna stand up? If I'm gonna grab hands? If I'm gonna interlock? What am I gonna do? So I walked away, [James Brown], and I didn't drop on one knee and order the protest, Boomer [Esiason]. I dropped on two knees. Both knees. So I can simply honor God in the midst of chaos."

Source: tmz.com