Adam Jones supports NFL protests

4:39 PMAdam Jones stays woke.

The 31-year-old Baltimore Orioles outfielder spoke up about why we haven’t seen any black baseball players sit in protest of the national anthem, and he didn’t mince his words one bit. “Baseball is a white man’s sport,” he toldUSA TODAY. On its surface, this is not news. Major League Baseball has publicly acknowledged its diversity problem, going so far as to form a task force back in 2013 to combat the issue.

But Jones’ larger point sheds light on how difficult protesting can be for certain athletes. Even with guaranteed contracts and the league’s history in integration, players don’t feel empowered enough to speak out. More importantly, it highlights how actively non-progressive MLB has been when it comes to social commentary, recently. Remember this is the same league that played a game with no one in the stands for fear of what might occur after police killed Freddie Gray and the streets reacted.

Meanwhile, with Week 1 of the NFL bringing a fresh round of demonstrations, America’s pastime feels woefully behind. There are only a few managers of color in the game and the ranks aren’t much better when it comes to executives in front offices. Jones is a perfect player to reinforce that message, for those of you who seem to believe that only people of a certain caliber are worthy of doing so. Let’s not forget that someone actually threw a banana at him during a game once in San Francisco.

Here's a peaceful protest: never buy another shoe, shirt, or jersey of rich spoiled athletes who dishonor our flag. https://t.co/GrGPYX8HCh

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 12, 2016

A few things about Adam Jones:

1) He has lived racism
2) He is profoundly intelligent
3) He deserves our attention https://t.co/nK7CmYvBbE

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 12, 2016

“The First Amendment says we have freedom of expression,” Jones said. “We’re supposed to be so free, so free. But anytime anybody of color speaks up in the United States, for some odd reason, they always get the raw end of the deal. It sucks.”

Jones stands during the anthem, but perhaps, like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, his basic acknowledgment of the issue at hand may inspire others to do so, as well. The Orioles are currently in wild-card position in the American League, which means if they make a decent playoff run, Jones will have a much bigger platform to speak from. Baseball needs it.