At a meeting with the press yesterday, Richard Sherman addressed San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the national anthem on Friday. Kaepernick has said that he will continue to sit until there is "significant change" in the unjust treatment of people of color by police.

The Seahawks cornerback spoke at length about Kaepernick's decision, saying he thinks that Kaepernick "could have picked a better platform and a better way to do it" but that there is a "deeper meaning to what he did."

Here is an excerpt of Sherman's comments. The Seattle Times has the full transcript.

I thought that was interesting. Obviously, what he meant was in a good place. He wanted to make a stand. Obviously, anytime you don’t stand during the national anthem, people are going to criticize it. And that’s the unfortunate part of it. You can’t ever stand against the flag. A lot of people have sacrificed for it. But there is also a deeper meaning to what he did. He’s talking about the oppression of African Americans in this country. And that has been going on for a long time. I think a lot of the focus has shifted away from his message and shifted to some people, rightfully so, to him taking a stand against the nation, etc., etc.

But I think there are also things in this nation that people need to remember and take heed of and also acknowledge. This country is the same country that had ‘whites’ and ‘colored’ signs on the bathroom. We’re still in that country, we’re still in that nation. And that needs to be acknowledged and that needs to be changed. There are people with that mentality that still exists, and that needs to change. There are people who still treat people of color with subjectivity. They treat them a certain way. They categorize them. They put them in a certain category. There are certain statistics that are put out there to make sure police profile certain people in certain neighborhoods, and that needs to change. So there is some depth and some truth to what he’s doing. I think he could have picked a better platform and a better way to do it, but every day they say athletes are so robotic and do everything by the book. And then when somebody takes a stand like that, he gets his head chopped off.

Among Kaepernick's supporters is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who called the football player's actions "highly patriotic" today in a Washington Post op-ed. Abdul-Jabbar also called out those who pay lip service to personal freedoms "but then brand as unpatriotic those who exercise this freedom to express dissatisfaction with the government’s record in upholding the Constitution."

The discussion of the nuances of patriotism is especially important right now, with Trump and Clinton supporters each righteously claiming ownership of the “most patriotic” label. Patriotism isn’t just getting teary-eyed on the Fourth of July or choked up at war memorials. It’s supporting what the Fourth of July celebrates and what those war memorials commemorate: the U.S. Constitution’s insistence that all people should have the same rights and opportunities and that it is the obligation of the government to make that happen. When the government fails in those obligations, it is the responsibility of patriots to speak up and remind them of their duty.