Doug Baldwin interviewed on ESPN about race

Doug Baldwin’s passionate Facebook posting last month when the Graffiti Bridge was briefly transformed into a Confederate flag image has led to him addressing the issue on ESPN.

The five minute, 35 second interview was posted on ESPN.com Sunday. ESPN interviewed Baldwin in Pensacola earlier this month.

Baldwin, a Gulf Breeze High graduate, who went from an undrafted player into stardom with the Seattle Seahawks as a starting receiver, talked about his feelings on the Confederate flag, the history of the Civil War and what Baldwin said was racism he endured at times while growing up in the Pensacola area.

“To see that being put on the Graffiti Bridge... I had to take a step back and really put my feelings and emotions together to figure out where I was and navigate through it,” said Baldwin in the ESPN video.

Baldwin first expressed his ire June 27 when posting a photo on his Facebook page of the Graffiti Bridge on 17th Street being painted into an image of the Confederate flag. He wrote a lengthy commentary on Facebook about the frustration of seeing that being done in his hometown.

The actual painted image didn’t last long, however. It was quickly repainted by a group of other people and it went back and forth that way with some of the contention between groups filmed by WEAR-TV and used on ESPN.

Early the next morning after the flag image was painted, there were no remnants of it on the bridge.

Baldwin wrote on his Facebook page that day, “Today I want to discuss this picture, depicting individuals demonstrating their freedom of speech, taken in my hometown. It is not surprising to see, however, it is a still a very frustrating image to me for various reasons.

“Why? Well, I grew up in this area and know the population all too well.” He went on to discuss his views on Civil War history, the meaning of the Confederate flag and racial division.

Baldwin went on to claim in the Facebook post he once saw a noose hanging from a car's rearview mirror in the parking lot at Gulf Breeze High as a student there.

Baldwin returned to Seattle this weekend. He participated Sunday with teammates and celebrities in a charity softball game hosted by Seattle Seahawks cornerback star Richard Sherman at Safeco Field.

Baldwin hosted a youth football clinic July 11 in Pensacola at Legion Field, where he played youth football.

During his NFL career, the Stanford graduate has often thrust himself into the spotlight. He screamed at a group of media representatives immediately after the Seahawks comeback win against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship for what he perceived were media doubters of the Seahawks — reigning Super Bowl champions at the time.

He created an even bigger stir in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1 when he squatted over a football in the end zone to taunt New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis after Baldwin caught a 3-yard TD pass. Baldwin, flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for the incident, later apologized for his actions.