Two weeks after the Indianapolis Colts cut the starting cornerback without forewarning, Antonio Cromartie and his wife Terricka opened up about the severance, with messages that sounded off on recent remarks made by Colts owner Jim Irsay. Earlier this week Irsay spoke out against the protests that have occupied pregame National Anthem ceremonies across the league, during an NFL owners meeting in Houston, saying "It hasn't been a positive thing." Terricka Cromartie apparently took issue with Irsay's assertion that everyone from the equipment managers to the players need to understand that they "are being paid to put on a show," and ought to therefore consider that "there are other places to express yourself."
"You are Nothing More than an Entertainer. Just Shut and do what we say. You have No rights as long as you are working for me.. there are other places for you to fight and stand for what you believe," she wrote in a third-person message posted to Instagram.
Fans will recall that prior to Cromartie being given the pink slip, he had been the only player on the Colts roster to demonstrate in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick; raising his fist while taking a knee during his match-up against the Chargers in September, and repeating the action during what would be his final game against the Jags in London. According to Terricka, Cromartie may have been dropped for refusing to abandon his stance. "One things for sure I know my husband was told Not to take a Knee and he went with his heart and he took one. And that cost him his Job.. and Clearly this Statement backs that up... Just a Paid To put on a show," she wrote.
Cromartie also took to Instagram on Thursday [October 20], and while he didn't make any direct accusations, he spoke to the backlash that players have generally faced from fans over their decision to abstain from a conventional observance of the National Anthem. "It's crazy while I was in Indiana I had a chance to talk to some veterans that didn't have a problem with me taking a knee. Because they understood my reason behind it. I thank them, my grandfather and my friends for their support, who also served this country," he wrote, in the caption of a photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his post he highlighted that he had come to learn that veterans make up the largest demographic of homeless people in the nation, and questioned how people can judge the players as disrespectful to vets while the majority remains silent about the prevalence of such a reality.
Source: twitter.com
