Carlos Monarrez

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell addressed how he would handle Colin Kaepernick’s protest against the national anthem today and said he would not forbid his players from engaging in a similar protest.

“Well, my reaction is what he did is not against the law,” Caldwell said. “He’s a young man that’s expressing a feeling that he had. I don’t necessarily agree with what he does, but the fact of the matter is he’s open to express himself. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion in this country, that’s the great thing about this country.”

Caldwell has said in the past that he wants his players to be themselves. He said any similar protest from one of his players would result in a dialogue between himself and the player.

“Pretty much just like anything else, we’d discuss it, we’d talk about it,” he said. “We’d see exactly what his thoughts were and are, but the fact of the matter is what we won’t do is we won’t mandate an action for him. We won’t tell him to stand up or tell him to sit down or whatever that might be, because obviously he hasn’t done anything that’s against the law.”

Kaepernick decision to remain seated for the national anthem during exhibition game has consumed sports headlines and has created a maelstrom of discussion around the topic. Caldwell said he would remind players that even though they are entitled to their opinions and decisions, both sometimes carry strong consequences.

“We do, we try to cover the gamut, you know both ends of it,” he said. “We try to make certain that they do and that we talk about you look at it from both ends of it. There’s an old saying that says — I think how it goes is that ‘at some point in time we all have to sit down and eat at the banquet table based on the choices that we made, or eat on the banquet table of consequences based on the choices that we made.’

“And I think that’s one of the things that we try and do. We just make sure that they’re looking at it and taking a second to pause and look at it from both sides. If they feel strongly about something I certainly don’t mind that they speak their mind.”

Although a similar protest could create an unwanted distraction — and possibly division in the locker room — Caldwell emphasized that athletes also are people and citizens with the right to their opinions.

“One of the things that I think often times that people forget about is these guys are human,” he said. “These guys are also living in this society, these guys also have societal issues that they’re dealing with and they have opinions. I think that what we don’t want to do is thwart that. What we do want to do is just make certain that they’re well informed in terms of whatever position they take.”

Tate chimes in: "He’s probably catching hell," Lions receiver Golden Tate told USA TODAY Sports.

Tate is a friend of Kaepernick and, like many in the NFL community, said that he can relate to the issue that fueled the protest and supports the quarterback’s right to expression. Yet Tate also maintains that he would have found another method to protest "given the emotional fuse that Kaepernick lit with many people who viewed his protest as unpatriotic.

‘’As a black man in America, I understand, to a point,’’ Tate said. "But you’ve got to understand all perspectives. Especially nowadays."

Remember: Ex-Tigers Whitaker, Lemon didn't stand for anthem, either

Tigers' Saltalamacchia disagrees with Kaepernick: 'Pretty disgusting'

Lions' Boldin: Ex-teammate Colin Kaepernick entitled to his opinion

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. Download our free Lions Xtra app on your Apple and Android devices.