NFL Vet Reggie Bush Defends Kneeling: ‘Our President Is Trying to Divide Us’
By Mike Botticello
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – As Sunday evening set over the Fairfax High School football field in Los Angeles, hip hop beats provided a vibe as Snoop Dogg and former player Matt Barnes hosted a celebrity flag football game.
The game was a culmination of Athletes vs. Cancer’s All Star Weekend. Started by Barnes after his mom died of cancer in 2007, AVC provides free clinics and mobile screening unites to underserved communities as well as financial assistance to people battling the disease and their family members.
“It’s a constant cause for me,” Barnes told Variety. “After losing my mom it’s something that’s very close to my heart that I talk about often. This weekend is just a small piece of what we’re doing throughout the year.”
The four-day event also included a cannabis summit, a bowling night, and a pool party.
Players in the game included stars Reggie Bush and Terrell Owens and NBA vets Baron Davis and JaVale McGee.
NBA players Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Devin Booker and Nick Young watched from the sidelines as talked turned to President Donald Trump’s recent Twitter slam of .
“LeBron high on education. He’s high on giving back to his community and helping the kids who he once was,” Green said of James. “It’s huge for him to do that and a lot of other guys are doing a lot of things in the community and really using their platform to cause change.”
McGee, a newly signed Laker, added, “As long everybody puts their foot in and helps out on everything that needs to be done, I feel like that’s how we’ll excel as a group. Rather than like LeBron said, ‘We’re not just dumb athletes.’”
Davis praised “a lot of basketball players [as] natural leaders. “That’s what you get when you get when you have someone that comes from hard times and wants to do right for their community,” he said.
Bush said that leadership is needed now more than ever.
“Right now, we’re at a crucial time period,” he said. “Our country is in a state of crisis right now. Some of it is because our president is trying to divide us, but this is what is about. That’s why you see guys continue to take a knee during the national anthem. Whether you agree with it or not, you have to respect it, because it’s peaceful.
Bush added, “We see white people, black people, Mexicans, Asians you saw all races and ethnicities here. That’s what sports does, it brings together people from all cultures, ethnicities and religions.”
As for the outcome of the game, Team Snoop won 32-26 but not before the rapper limped off the field and left the game after injuring his left leg when he took a bad fall while trying to catch a touchdown.
