Getty Images

Colin Kaepernick is comfortable being in the spotlight, but he does not go along with the notion that he’s the reason NFL ratings are down since he began sitting or kneeling for the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality.

During a conference call with Miami reporters, Kaepernick was asked about polls that suggested his protest was one of the reasons for the decline.

“They’re not watching football because of my stance about fighting systematic oppression and wanting the same equality and freedom for all people? I would say they probably need to look in the mirror at what they value,” Kaepernick said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “You know, if they’re OK with people being treated unfairly, being abused, being harassed, being terrorized, then the problem is more with what they’re doing in their lives than it is about watching football games.”

While there certainly are some people who don’t approve of his message or his method, there are plenty of other reasons for ratings to be down this year. But the political fury it created (at a time when we had plenty of others to deal with) is also part of the storm that has hit the NFL this season, one which the President-elect has taken credit for, while blaming Kaepernick as well.