Rodney Harrison Apologizes for Saying Kaepernick 'Not Black'

Rodney Harrison, an NBC Sports analyst, has apologized for saying Colin Kaepernick was "not black" while addressing the refusal of the biracial San Francisco 49ers quarterback to stand during the national anthem.

Harrison, a former NFL star, ripped Kaepernick on Tuesday on "The Proper Gentlemen of Sports" talk show on KBME-AM in Houston.

"… And I tell you this, I'm a black man," Harrison said on the talk show. "And Colin Kaepernick — he's not black. He cannot understand what I face and what other young black men and black people face, or people of color face, on an every single (day) basis. When you walk in a grocery store, and you might have $2,000 or $3,000 in your pocket and you go up in to a Foot Locker and they're looking at you like you about to steal something. I don't think he faces those types of things."

Kaepernick is biracial and was adopted shortly after birth, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Harrison's comments were slammed on social media by ESPN's Sage Steele, who is biracial, and others.

.@Rodney_Harrison ..ppl like u claim us biracial kids when it's convenient for u. That's a racist, dbl standard. Sad https://t.co/t6kGHLiTx9

— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) August 30, 2016

I think everybody can agree that @Rodney_Harrison is a clown!!!! What a idiot and disgrace, everybody in our locker room agrees on this!

— jerome felton (@jfelton45) August 30, 2016

Rodney Harrison just committed black on black crime talking about kap like that he so wrong

— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) August 30, 2016

Harrison later issued a series of tweets apologizing for his remarks, saying he didn't know Kaepernick was biracial.

I never intended to offend anyone , I was trying to speak about my experiences as a African American.

— Rodney Harrison (@Rodney_Harrison) August 30, 2016

I apologize to anyone that I offended , wasn't meant to be hurtful to anyone. God bless

— Rodney Harrison (@Rodney_Harrison) August 30, 2016

@Rodney_Harrison Diminishing a black persons blackness is just plain wrong. Its ONCE again telling them that they are NOT ENOUGH. #Unity

— Claudia Jordan (@claudiajordan) August 30, 2016

Last point I want people to know. I never even knew he was mixed.

— Rodney Harrison (@Rodney_Harrison) August 30, 2016

I should not have called Colin Kaepernick’s race into question during this morning’s radio interview. It was a mistake and I apologize.

— Rodney Harrison (@Rodney_Harrison) August 30, 2016

Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in the 2012 NFL season, sparked a heated debate this week over his decision to not stand for the national anthem as a protest against alleged police shooting of African-Americans.

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