MINNEAPOLIS -- Carl Eller knows the pain of racial injustice on a deeper level than most current athletes. The issues that led San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick to sit down during the national anthem Friday night aren't that different from the institutional racism that Eller experienced growing up in the Jim Crow South. And, as the Hall of Fame defensive end made clear on Monday afternoon, athletes have an opportunity to make a profound difference by using their platform to speak out on social issues.
The national anthem, though, is not the place Eller would have chosen to do it.