Reggie Cannon is now in Portugal with Boavista, but the defender recently responded to remarks on one of his final appearances with FC Dallas.
In an Aug. 9th league match vs. Nashville SC, Cannon and his teammates knelt during the National Anthem and were booed by some of its own fans. Cannon responded to those fans in his post-match comments, but admitted on The Crack Podcast with host Mabricio Wilson and former U.S. internationals Oguchi Onyewu and DaMarcus Beasley that Dallas wanted him to apologize for his comments.
“They had written out a statement for me that read, ‘I apologize to the fans I offended,” Cannon said. “My choice of words, I like to think that I let the heat of the moment get to me.”
“I said, ‘With all respect, I’m not apologizing. I didn’t do anything wrong. We all made the decision [to kneel].’ And I said, ‘What they did was disgusting.’ I never called anyone disgusting. The action that you guys chose to do was disgusting because you don’t understand why we’re kneeling.”
While several FC Dallas fans booed the actions of the players, one fan threw an object onto the field and was subsequently ejected. After the match, Cannon reacted to the actions of the fan saying: “You can’t even have the support of your own fans in your own stadium. It’s absolutely baffling to me.”
FC Dallas showed support towards Cannon including when reports of “threats of being lynched” came days following the Nashville match. The club even offered to have Cannon sit out of the subsequent Aug. 17th match due to several social media posts targeting Cannon and the club.
“The club just called me and told me I don’t have to play tomorrow because unfortunately we were sent another screenshot of people rallying up saying they’re gonna give me a surprise at one of the home games,” said Cannon. “Every post saying, ‘Let’s teach this boy Reggie Cannon a lesson about what true terror is.’ All this BS. So, now they’re taking added security measures.”
Several teams have stayed in their locker rooms for the National Anthem while some players have continued to kneel in support for the fight against social injustice.
“Now I know what I stand for because I’ve seen this, I’ve seen how people truly think, I’ve seen how people truly are,” Cannon said. “Because I’ve always wanted to believe, like for example, FC Dallas is always a family and they always have your best interests at heart and always have your back.
“I’ve kind of had my eyes opened. I know what I stand for.”
Cannon and Boavista resume league play on Oct. 19th against Vitoria Guimaraes looking for its first win of the season.