Two National Football League stars on opposing teams had to be separated before a game on Sunday over long-simmering tensions related to the national anthem protests as Colin Kaepernick weighed in on the side of an old ally.

The incident between Eric Reid of the Carolina Panthers and Malcolm Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles took place before the start of the teams’ Week 7 matchup at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday.

As teams do every week, members of the Eagles and Panthers began congregating at midfield for the ceremonial coin flip to determine which team receives the ball to start the game.

But television cameras zoomed in to an apparent scuffle that broke out nearby.

#Eagles Malcolm Jenkins and #Panthers Eric Reid had confrontation after the coin toss before the game started.



Reid had major concerns with Malcolm Jenkins' Players Coalition that raised nearly $100 million to causes considered important to African-American communities. pic.twitter.com/qBsfDr4yLi — Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 21, 2018

The incident between Eric Reid (seen above being restrained by teammates) of the Carolina Panthers and Malcolm Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles took place before the start of the teams’ Week 7 matchup at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday

Reid (left) looked to be fired up by the encounter with Jenkins, with whom he has a history of feuding

The image from another angle shows Reid (25) being held back by a teammate, wide receiver Torrey Smith (11) during the shouting match with Jenkins

Reid was visibly agitated with Jenkins, who plays the same position for the Eagles. Both Reid and Jenkins are safeties

Two NFL officials also tried to separate the warring combatants at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday

Moments later, during the singing of the national anthem, Reid was seen kneeling on the field

Colin Kaepernick publicly sided with Reid, his former teammate with the 49ers. The former quarterback tweeted on Sunday: ‘Eric Reid!!! Enough said!!!’ Kaepernick added the hashtag '#ImwithReid'

Eric Reid calls Malcolm Jenkins a “sellout” and a “neo-colonialist.” pic.twitter.com/uQfhz6o7FF — Bo Wulf (@Bo_Wulf) October 21, 2018

Video footage shows members of the Panthers trying to restrain Reid, who appeared angry.

Reid was visibly agitated with Jenkins, who plays the same position for the Eagles. Both Reid and Jenkins are safeties.

Kaepernick publicly sided with Reid, his former teammate with the 49ers.

The former quarterback tweeted on Sunday: ‘Eric Reid!!! Enough said!!!’

Kaepernick added the hashtag '#ImwithReid'.

Moments later, during the singing of the national anthem, Reid was seen kneeling on the field.

After the game on Sunday, Reid blasted Jenkins as a 'sellout' and a 'neocolonialist,' according to Deadspin.

'His actions speak louder than his words,' the Carolina defensive back told reporters in his locker room.

Reid accused Jenkins of 'co-opting' the protest movement ignited by Kaepernick.

'He was corrupt from the jump,' Reid told reporters.

'He knew what he was doing from the offset.

'His goal was to sell us out, and he did that.'

When Jenkins was told about Reid's comments, he responded: 'I would never get up here and say anything bad about somebody who I know whose intentions were real about helping the community, especially another black man.

'I respect him, I’m glad he has a job, I’m glad he’s back in the league, I’ll leave it like that.'

The feud between Reid and Jenkins stems from a disagreement between the two men over the players’ response to the controversy over social justice protests during the singing of the national anthem.

Reid, a former member of the San Francisco 49ers, was one of the first players alongside Kaepernick to kneel during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Jenkins also staged his own form of protest. He and other teammates raised a fist in the air during the national anthem.

Kaepernick is seen center with Reid on the right and another teammate, Eli Harold, to the left. Reid maintains that Jenkins and other players did not do enough to help Kaepernick when he was ostracized by the NFL for his controversial stance

While both Reid and Jenkins agreed there was reason to protest, they did not agree on the next step.

Jenkins agreed to stop raising his fist in the air after the NFL agreed to commit close to $100million toward advancing social justice issues.

Last year, the agreement was struck between league owners and a group known as the Players Coalition, which was co-founded by Jenkins and retired NFL star Anquan Boldin.

But there were players who were not on board.

Reid and Miami Dolphins safety Michael Thomas said they were withdrawing from the agreement.

They were livid because they claimed that Boldin and Jenkins purposely excluded Kaepernick from their discussions with the owners.

'[Colin Kaepernick and I] believe a lot of players should have stepped up for Colin,' Reid told reporters on Sunday after his team's win.

'I believe Malcolm capitalized on the situation.

'He co-opted the movement that was started by Colin to get his organization funding.

'It's cowardly. He sold us out.'

Reid and Thomas were also said to be angry because the donation made by the NFL was promised with the understanding that the players would end their sideline protests.

While both Reid and Jenkins agreed there was reason to protest, they did not agree on the next step. Jenkins agreed to stop raising his fist in the air after the NFL agreed to commit close to $100million toward advancing social justice issues. Jenkins is seen raising his fist last year

'With much thought and consideration, I've decided to officially withdraw my involvement in The Players Coalition founded by Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Boldin,' the statement read.

'The Players Coalition was supposed to be formed as a group that represents NFL athletes who have been silently protesting social injustices and racism,' the statement continued.

'However, Malcolm and Anquan can no longer speak on our behalf as we don't believe the coalition's beliefs are in our best interests as a whole.

'We will continue to have dialogue with the league to find equitable solutions but without Malcolm and Anquan as our representative,' the statement concluded.

Reid says he left The Players Coalition because Jenkins excluded Kaepernick from meetings, and asked players if they would stop protesting the anthem if the NFL made a charitable donation to causes they support.

'Malcolm did text me this morning asking if we would be comfortable ending our demonstrations if the NFL made a donation,' Reid said.

'At that point, that was the last straw for me,' he continued.

'He had a conversation with the NFL.

‘We agreed that multiple people would be part of the conversations with the league so it just wouldn't be him.

‘He didn't stand by his word on that. At no point did we ever communicate an agreement with the NFL to end the protest.'

'I EXPECT NOTHING LESS FROM A RACIST': ERIC REID BLASTS PHILLY SPORTS WRITER'S CARTOON Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice drew a caricature showing Reid with oversized eyes, lips, and cornrows. The exaggerated features used by Kempski angered Twitter users who accused him of posting a racist illustration .@MasterTes shared a caricature created on Twitter with #EricReid; his response: pic.twitter.com/6qibj0EvVa — Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) October 21, 2018 Carolina Panthers defensive back Eric Reid wasn’t just angry at Eagles star Malcolm Jenkins over the Kaepernick saga. He also hit out at a Philadelphia sportswriter for drawing a racist caricature and posting it on social media before quickly deleting it. Aside from covering his hometown Eagles, Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice has a hobby of using MS Paint software to draw tongue-in-cheek stick figures of players. On Sunday, however, he may have went too far. He took a photo of Reid in which he is seen seething with anger on the field during his spat with Jenkins on Sunday. In the photo, Reid’s eyes are wide open. Kempski drew a caricature showing Reid with oversized eyes, lips, and cornrows. The exaggerated features used by Kempski angered Twitter users who accused him of posting a racist illustration. Aside from covering his hometown Eagles, Kempski has a hobby of using MS Paint software to draw tongue-in-cheek stick figures of players (like the image above). On Sunday, however, he may have went too far Reid was shown the cartoon in the locker room after the game by Bleacher Report writer Master Tesfatsion. ‘This is exactly what I’m talking about,’ the Panthers safety said. ‘I expect nothing less from a racist.’ Tesfatsion posted a screenshot of the original tweet by Kempski under the caption: ‘This is Jim Crow imagery in 2018. It’s disgusting.’ Kempski then deleted the tweet and posted an apology to Tesfatsion. He also said he wanted to engage the reporter in dialogue. ‘It was a regrettable, but honest mistake, and I apologize,’ Kempski wrote on his Twitter page. ‘I suggested we discuss it in the press box, which you declined to do initially. ‘I'll be here for at least another hour or so. Still happy to talk. Let me know.’ Another Twitter user asked Kempski why he deleted the controversial tweet. ‘It was pointed out that to me that it mirrors a negative racial caricature, and when I took a hard look at it, obviously I realized that it does,’ the reporter wrote on Twitter. ‘So I deleted it.’ Kempski posted a statement on his social media account. ‘Earlier today, I tweeted (and subsequently deleted) a drawing of Eric Reid in an attempt to poke fun at his animated pre-game altercation during the Eagles-Panthers game. Kempski posted a statement on his social media account apologizing for the cartoon ‘For those of you who are unaware of my work, I regularly incorporate poorly drawn stick figure cartoons into my articles, and on Twitter. ‘The drawing of Reid unintentionally mimicked that of a negative African American caricature. ‘For anyone who was hurt and/or offended by the drawing, I understand your anger, and I am deeply sorry.’ Advertisement

Reid apparently never forgave Jenkins for what he thought was a sell-out of the cause.

After Reid signed with the Carolina Panthers weeks ago, he called the Players Coalition an ‘NFL-funded subversion group.’

He said he would continue promoting his own social agenda without help from the Players Coalition.

Kaepernick became a politically polarizing figure after conservatives, chief among them President Donald Trump, accused him and other players of denigrating the military and law enforcement.

Liberals praised Kaepernick for leading a movement which called attention to social justice issues like police brutality and criminal justice reform.

Kaepernick and other NFL players who knelt during the anthem deny that their intent was to put down the armed forces.

Both he and Reid failed to find a team willing to sign them after they made their sideline protests known.

Reid finally did manage to sign with the Panthers at the end of September - though Kaepernick remains unsigned.

Both Reid and Kaepernick have filed collusion grievances against the NFL, claiming that owners conspired to keep them out of pro football as punishment for expressing their political views.

Despite the apparent bad blood between them, Jenkins was quoted as saying he supported Reid being given another opportunity to sign with an NFL team.

‘I think any team that is considering him is going to weigh his political views and the strong stance that he's taken the last couple years, and that's unfortunate, but it's just kind of what it is,’ the Eagles safety told NJ Advance Media in March, when Reid was without a team.

‘So hopefully, teams will look past that and evaluate him as a player, and I think as a player he deserves a spot in this league.’