The parents of embattled San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick have broken their silence on their sons decision to kneel for the playing of the national anthem this season.Colin is carrying a heavy load and following a difficult path that he truly believes in. He is putting his entire future and possibly his life on the line for those beliefs, Teresa and Rick Kaepernick wrote in a statement addressed to The Undefeated on Friday. As his parents, it pains us to read articles and tweets saying that his family does not support him; this could not be further from the truth. We want people to know that we are very proud of our son and admire his strength and courage in kneeling for the rights of others.Reached by phone Friday evening, Teresa Kaepernick said the couple initially wanted to avoid the limelight associated with making a public statement about their son but were shocked by the overwhelmingly false narrative that she and her husband dont support their son.The Kaepernicks support of Colin initially came into question after USA Today reported in early September that the family flew an American flag in front of their Modesto, California, home, an apparent statement of their displeasure with Colin. At the time, Teresa said, Its not in our best interest or Colins best interest to make a comment. Colin later told reporters that his parents agree with what Im standing for.More than three months later, his parents are finally ready to speak.Colin has chosen to kneel for the national anthem as a protest to the continuing racial inequality in this country, the statement read. He has explained his reasons for this in multiple interviews, yet it seems some people still do not understand his point. For whatever reason, there are some who want to view this as an anti-military protest or an un-American stance. These views could not be further from the truth, but we know that people will believe what they wish to believe. The recent remarks (attacks) by Admiral Harris supported by the Pentagon are over the top, and we feel the desire to make a public statement in support of our son.On Wednesday, Adm. Harry B. Harris, who heads the U.S. Pacific Command, made indirect comments against Kaepernick while addressing a crowd to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. You can bet that the men and women we honor today -- and those who died that fateful morning 75 years ago -- never took a knee and never failed to stand whenever they heard our national anthem being played, he said.Our military takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and many have fought and died to defend our constitutional rights. Indeed after such sacrifice it is a reasonable expectation that all of our citizens enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the Kaepernicks statement read.Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, who are white, adopted Colin when he was only 5 weeks old. The couple had lost two sons at birth to congenital heart failure and were not eligible to adopt a white baby from a private adoption agency. Then came along a tiny biracial baby boy who had recently been given away by his 19-year-old white mother. Teresa called Colin her perfect child.Four years later, the family (Rick and Teresa also have two other children) moved from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Turlock, California, with the daunting task of raising a biracial boy in an all-white household in America.From the beginning, the Kaepernicks reaffirmed to their youngest son that his different skin color was perfectly OK, and they never tried to make him white. They even drove him an hour out of town to get him cornrows when he was a teenager.I never felt that I was supposed to be white. Or black, either. My parents just wanted to let me be who I needed to be, Colin told Mr.Porter.com in Septermber 2015.Teresa and Rick have had to stand up for their son for decades now, from strangers not realizing he was their child in his younger years, to a Sporting News columnist writing a racially charged story on Colins abundance of tattoos within weeks of his first professional start during the 2012 season.It annoyed me, Teresa told USA Today after the column was posted. You are categorizing this kid on something like tattoos? Really? ... Thats how youre going to define this kid? Its pretty irritating, but it is what it is.Added Rick: Instead of saying that Colin does all these great things and donates his time to children, this guy is going to make him out like a gangster.The 29-year-old quarterback has been under fire since late August, when football media noticed he wasnt standing for the national anthem during the 49ers third preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. He initially told reporters he would not stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color, and that There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.Over the past months, Colin has expanded on his mission, stating that he will donate $1 million of his salary this season to organizations whose mission is to help communities of color. He has donated at least $200,000 so far.While he has been criticized by members of the military like Harris, fellow NFL players and president-elect Donald Trump, Kaepernick also has received praise from high school and college athletes, a handful of WNBA teams, President Barack Obama, and a hashtag-full of other vets.Colins birth mother, Heidi Russo, scolded the quarterback on Twitter during the early days of his protest, tweeting, Theres ways to make change w/o disrespecting and bringing shame to the very country and family who afforded you so many blessings. In a subsequent tweet, she added, The path less traveled doesnt need to be one of destruction. #beenthere #besmarter #berespectful.Despite the negative press over the past four months, the Kaepernick family firmly stands behind Colin. They acknowledge that the current political and racial climate in America is not helping their sons cause but are hopeful the protest will evoke some form of change.When Colin first took a knee, his family was as surprised as anyone. We did not understand why he was doing this and were overwhelmed with the public reaction and hate. Colin not only received terrible racist tweets, but also received letters directly to our home similar to that recently received by [Denver Broncos linebacker] Brandon Marshall, the familys statement read. We were truly shocked at the amount of racist hatred out there! Until this had occurred, we had naively believed that the racial atmosphere in this country was far better than it actually is. Prayer and talks with our son gave us a much better understanding of the reason for his protest and how we should view it.I just want to be on the record that we absolutely do support him, Teresa told The Undefeated by phone. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. http://www.cheapjerseysfastshipping.com/ . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Cheap NFL Jerseys Stitched . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. CHICAGO -- New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault felt so good about Antti Raantas return to Chicago that he kept Henrik Lundqvist on the bench for the second straight night.Turned out quite well for Vigneault and company.Raanta made 26 saves against his former team, Nick Holden scored 55 seconds into overtime and the Rangers blanked the Blackhawks 1-0 on Friday.It was great to come here and play, Raanta said. A little nervous, but it was a good thing it ended like this.Derek Stepan passed from the boards to a streaking Holden in the middle of the ice, and he beat Scott Darling on the stick side for his fourth goal of the season. Darling was going for his second straight shutout while subbing for injured starter Corey Crawford, but he had to settle for a season-high 36 stops in another solid performance.Raantas played great, made some big saves, Darling said. I wish I could redo that one in overtime.Raanta made his NHL debut with Chicago in 2013 and was teammates with Darling for one season before he was traded to New York. He improved to 15-0-3 in 20 career appearances at the United Center.The 27-year-old Raanta had 17 saves in Thursdays 2-1 victory at Winnipeg, and Vigneault opted to give him a second straight start because of his recent play and his success in Chicago.Any team in this league, the way it is now, needs two goaltenders to be able to have success, Vigneault said, and were very fortunate that we have two goaltenders that can do a good job for us.Antti came up real big back to back and its good for our team and very good for him also.Marian Hossa appeared to have the go-ahead goal for the Blackhawks when he shot it between the legs of Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Raanta 6 minutes into the third. But Vigneault challenged the play and it was waived off when a replay review showed Hossa was offside.Thats a tough one. I wasnt even noticing it was close to offside, but with todays technology and this new rule, its a game of inches, Hossa said.dddddddddddd They created this new rule and we have to deal with it, but its frustrating, because the league wants to increase scoring and now I think more goals are disallowed because of this one.The Blackhawks played without defenseman Brent Seabrook, who was sidelined by an upper-body injury. Captain Jonathan Toews missed his eighth straight game with an upper-body injury, and Crawford missed his fourth in a row after he had an emergency appendectomy last weekend.New York forward Rick Nash was sidelined for the second straight game by an upper-body injury. Nash is tied for second on the Rangers with 11 goals.While each team was missing some star power due to injuries, Raanta and Darling put on quite a show.Raanta made a great glove save on Patrick Kanes one-timer early in the first and had a dazzling stop on Richard Paniks wide-open look in the middle in the second. The 6-foot-6 Darling made a couple terrific saves in rapid succession in the second, denying Stepan on the doorstep before getting over to knock away Jesper Fasts prime opportunity on a 2-on-1.Raanta got some help in the third when Mats Zuccarello swept a loose puck away from the goal line with 2:20 left.Game notes It was Raantas first shutout of the season and No. 5 for his career. ... New York became the first NHL team with 100 goals this season. ... Rangers F Jimmy Vesey returned to the lineup after missing a game with an upper-body injury. Nash, D Adam Clendening and RW Josh Jooris were scratched. ... The Blackhawks are 6-2-2 against the Eastern Conference this season. ... The Rangers and Blackhawks play again on Tuesday night in New York.UP NEXTRangers: Hosts the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night.Blackhawks: Hosts the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '