Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf supports Kaepernick '1,000 percent'

Long before Colin Kaepernick decided to sit, there was the stand taken by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Like Kaepernick, Abdul-Rauf faced immense vitriol upon refusing to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the 1995-96 season. He was suspended, blackballed, then out of the league two years later.

Twenty years after his protest, Abdul-Rauf has no regrets and he told Jesse Washington of The Undefeated that he supports Kaepernick "1,000 percent."

"It’s good to continue to draw people’s attention to what’s going on whether you’re an athlete, a politician, or a garbage man. These discussions are necessary," Abdul-Rauf said. "Sometimes it takes people of that stature, athletes and entertainers, because the youth are drawn to them, (more than) teachers and professors, unfortunately."

Their method of protest is the same, but the causes are different. Kaepernick is protesting the oppression of blacks in America, whereas Abdul-Rauf stood against oppression and tyranny in what he felt was his duty as a Muslim.

But regardless of the message, a similar fate could befall Kaepernick after he took a stand against the flag, Abdul-Rauf warned.

"It’s a process of just trying to weed you out. This is what I feel is going to happen to (Kaepernick)," Abdul-Rauf said. "They begin to try to put you in vulnerable positions. They play with your minutes, trying to mess up your rhythm. Then, they sit you more. Then what it looks like is, well, the guy just doesn’t have it anymore, so we trade him.

"It’s kind of like a setup," he continued. "You know, trying to set you up to fail and so when they get rid of you, they can blame it on that as opposed to, it was really because he took these positions. They don’t want these type of examples to spread, so they’ve got to make an example of individuals like this."