Former VA Tech footballer denounces politicization of sport’s post-court victory following BLM kneeling controversy

The former Virginia Tech football player, who won a legal victory over his former coach, claimed Tuesday that he benched her for refusing to kneel in support of Black Lives Matter.

Keisten Hennig took a coach to court for allegedly punching her in front of her teammates and removing her from the Hokies starting lineup, quitting the team and appearing in court under the First Amendment. , allegedly refused to kneel during the pre-match “statement of unity”.

In the wake of the $100,000 settlement, Hennig told The Ingraham Angle that he felt it wasn’t right to be told to kneel like that, with no politics involved in sports.

“Personally, I didn’t feel like I needed to kneel to support anything,” she said. “

Former Virginia Tech soccer player receives $100,000 settlement after allegedly being benched for refusing to kneel: Lawyer

virginia tech helmet
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“Personally, I think kneeling is synonymous with the Colin Kaepernick movement and the BLM movement, but I felt it wasn’t necessary.”

Henning said he was overly harsh when director Charles Adair allegedly called out to her after she refused to take her knees.

“I wasn’t feeling well…I was doing my job and I was there for my love of gaming and my love of school,” she said. “And for me, wearing that jersey meant a lot to me, and being called that was pretty harsh.

Ingraham read a statement from Adair. [him] closed and [he is] No cheating, free to move forward. ”

Former Virginia Tech footballer allegedly benched for refusing to kneel allowed to proceed with lawsuit: Judge

A woman holds up a Black Lives Matter flag at an event commemorating George Floyd.
(Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images)

“It hurts not being able to voice my opinion. The people I care about who have opinions that matter to me know the truth. We know it’s based on putting our team in a winning position,” Adair said in a statement.

Ingraham said Adair’s statement implied that she was “not good enough” as a starter, and asked Henning what he thought.

“I don’t think that’s accurate,” Hening replied. “No. I think the numbers speak for themselves.”

“In that sense, [the judge] “It summed it up perfectly,” she said. “I think I averaged 74 minutes in my freshman year and 88 minutes in my sophomore year.”

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Detail photo of a soccer ball on the field.
(Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

Henning said it’s a shame that politics is sometimes injected into sport.

“The political climate created in college sports is disappointing. Not even in college sports, but everywhere there is this pressure on athletes. I don’t believe it,” she said.