SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- When it comes to current events in the San Francisco 49ers locker room, wide receiver Torrey Smith is up to date.
Long before quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to sit for the national anthem in an effort to bring attention to racial oppression in the United States, Smith was making a habit of bringing up important social issues with his teammates.
"I’m like the news man around here," Smith said. "I like to talk about issues like race. I like to talk about these things because we all come from different type of backgrounds, and if people learn something, a lot of people like to act like racism and things like that don’t exist in society. If you don’t believe that, go look at Kap’s Instagram comments of his Twitter comments. He’s been called the N-word and go back to your country and if you don’t like this, go here or whatever.
"When you say something that people don’t agree with, that’s just how it goes, especially in the social media area. Anyone is going to catch heat if you say something that people don’t like, but that’s also why soldiers have died for our freedom of speech and our right to do those things. Again, he just exercised that right."
Smith, who like Kaepernick hasn't been afraid to express his opinions on social media, said he didn't know that Kaepernick sat down during the anthem until it became known in the media. But upon learning of it, Smith immediately related to the message Kaepernick was trying to get across, even though he didn't agree with how Kaepernick went about it.
"I feel like for him to stand up for what he believed in, I know he’s taking a lot of heat for it," Smith said. "And he understands that when you do something like that, it does offend a lot of people. When I think of the national anthem, I think of soldiers, the soldiers that have died for our rights and a right that he exercised.
"I get why people are mad, but I’m not so focused on how he did it, but the message that he is trying to send is important. We have real issues in society that need to be addressed. So that was his way of standing up for it. I respect his right. Whether I agree with what he did or not, that’s not something I would do, but he did it."
When Kaepernick spoke to the media on Sunday, he said he didn't understand how what he was doing was considered wrong, even though teammates Smith and center Daniel Kilgore expressed a sentiment to that effect. If Smith wouldn't have gone about it the same way, what is the right way to handle such an issue?
"That’s the million-dollar question," Smith said.
If nothing else, Smith is hoping that Kaepernick's actions will lead to more of the type of conversations that took place Sunday. In other words, the conversations Kaepernick calls "uncomfortable" can lead to a better understanding for everyone.
"I think the big thing is it needs to be addressed, even something like simple conversation," Smith said. "I’ve talked to guys in the locker room, and there’s things that I didn’t even understand growing up. I didn’t understand why my mom had to talk to me about why some people didn’t like me because I’m dark-skinned. I didn’t understand why she had to talk to me about watching where I’m hanging out late night because I could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn’t understand why she would talk to me in general about how I had to behave with police officers and making sure I’m doing the right thing. Even if I didn’t do anything wrong.
"A lot of people haven’t had to have these conversations with their kids. I know it’s important to talk about it. The bad thing about what Kap did is it might offend some people, but the positive is it has people talking about something, so it’s on us to go out there and try to do something about it."