Jim Brown has been a civil rights activist since retiring from the NFL decades ago.

That’s what makes it so strange that he isn’t standing, or kneeling rather, with Colin Kaepernick and his protest of the national anthem. In an interview with ThePostGame, Brown says that he’s an American first and that he’ll do anything to respect that.

"I want to be in his corner, and I do think, 'God bless him,'" he said. "I'm going to give you the real deal: I'm an American. I don't desecrate my flag and my national anthem. I'm not gonna do anything against the flag and national anthem. I'm going to work within those situations. But this is my country, and I'll work out the problems, but I'll do it in an intelligent manner."

The former Cleveland Browns running back suggested that Kaep’s protest should be more organized and that more people should group up and do it, even though more and more players are beginning to protest.

"If you have a cause, I think you should organize it, present it in a manner where it's not only you standing or sitting on one knee but a lot of people that is gonna get behind each other and do something about it," he said. "If I ask you one question: Who is Colin calling on to follow what he's talking about?"

Brown also reiterated the tired notion that football players should just stick to football.

"Colin has to make up his mind whether he's truly an activist or he's a football player," he explained. "Football is commercial. You have owners. You have fans. And you want to honor that if you're making that kind of money.

"You have to understand there's intelligence that's involved, OK? I can't be two things at once that contradict each other. If I sign for money, then the people I sign with, they have rules and regulations."

Ugh. Read the full interview here.