From NBC Chicago: Two South Loop bars owned by Kenny Johnson have said they won’t televise NFL games in support of the QB without a team.
The Velvet Lounge and the Bureau Bar are both part of the boycott.
“For us to be promoting ‘Come into our bar and watch NFL’ when all Colin Kaepernick was trying to do was take a stand on something that he believed in, I thought this was a way that I could support him,” Johnson said.
Young people with the Black Star Project gathered on the South Side Thursday to take a knee in support of Kaepernick. They also read letters to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“Colin Kaepernick took a knee because black kids are getting shot by the police,” one letter read.
This comes just one day after a large protest outside NFL headquarters in New York.
The protest was staged by those who believe Kaepernick has been sidelined for taking a knee to protest police brutality.
Kaepernick tweeted thanks to those who are supporting him.
“If Colin don’t play football, I will never watch football… let Colin play,” one attendee said.
The Velvet Room and the Bureau Bar, both owned by Kenny Johnson, are located on the southside of Chicago toward Soldier Field.
The Velvet Room, a long-established nightclub in the South Loop is well-known as a pioneer in introducing Jazz music to the Midwest. The Velvet Lounge now sits at 67 East Cermak after moving from 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Ave. when the building was scheduled for demolition.
Referring to themselves as “a great neighborhood bar with a speakeasy feel (as long as it’s not about Kaepernick)”, The Bureau Bar is nearby in the South Loop at 75 East 16th Street. Their Facebook page describes Bureau Bar’s inventory ranging “from the finest bourbons to the best vodkas.”
To our knowledge these establishments support no out-of-town sports teams.