The Tennessee Smokiesa minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs based in the town of Kodakdeleted and apologized for a tweet in which the team showed a "Betsy Ross flag" design on their infield dirt and called out activist/former pro quarterback Colin Kaepernick, The Washington Post reported.
The team posted, "Hey @Kaepernick7 after a lot of thought, we have decided it's best to just do it. #America." Kaepernickwho was the first to protest racial injustice by taking a knee during the national anthemreportedly objected to a shoe Nike was set to release for the week of July 4 that had the Betsy Ross flag embedded in its design. Nike pulled the shoe, setting off a political firestorm.
Nike is known for its "Just Do It" campaign.
Shortly after the Smokies posted the tweet tagging Kaepernick, they deleted it and posted one that said it "was meant to be a light-hearted take on a current situation. We did not mean to offend anyone by it. If it did, we certainly apologize."
Windy City Times reached out to the Chicago Cubs, who replied, "We have reached out to [the Smokies] and are reviewing the matter."
The full Post article is at https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/07/04/cubs-affiliate-calls-out-colin-kaepernick-draws-betsy-ross-flag-infield-dirt/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3b4549833302#click=https://t.co/cSlopWs54F.
Andrew Davis