In 2016, when then-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice, Taylor Trammell watched, confused.
Now a top Padres prospect, Trammell months earlier had been drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the first round after graduating from Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Ga. Initially he thought Kaepernick was disrespecting the American flag.
“My dad, he served in the Navy for nine years,” Trammell said. “I thought, ‘Wait, is he disrespecting my dad?’ and that’s when I kind of had a problem with it. I thought, he needs to find a better way to do this.