Giants received 'a lot' of letters on Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest

John Mara said he received more letters from fans about the national anthem protest started by Colin Kaepernick on the opposite coast than "any other issue" the New York Giants co-owner has encountered.

“All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue,” Giants co-owner John Mara told SI.com. “If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game. It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot.”

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Kaepernick was a member of the San Francisco 49ers last season when he refused to stand during The Star-Spangled Banner to call attention to police misconduct and the racial inequality. The protest was adopted by several other NFL players and athletes in other professional sports leagues.

“It’s an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, moreso than any other issue I’ve run into,” Mara said.

Those other issues apparently include domestic violence, something Mara and the Giants dealt with last season with kicker Josh Brown. Even though the Giants knew about the abuse claims related to Brown, the Giants re-signed him to a two-year, $4 million contract in April. Amid outcry after the full details of the alleged abuse of his then-wife, the Giants eventually cut Brown.

The Giants didn’t have a need this offseason for Kaepernick’s services with an established franchise quarterback in Eli Manning and the signing of former New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith.

Kaepernick, who opted out of his contract with the 49ers in March, doesn’t plan to protest the national anthem in the upcoming season, although the point is currently moot since he remains unsigned.