Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, currently a member of the New York Jets football team, was born and raised in St. Louis before eventually attending the University of Missouri.
So, it's not surprising that his reaction to a St. Louis grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year old Michael Brown was a special shade of disgust and disappointment.
"Darren Wilson is a pig," Richardson told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. "I'm not talking about all cops. I'm just talking about one in particular."
Richardson, who has performed well this season despite the Jets' poor record, was also proud of the decision by the members of the St. Louis Rams' receiving corps - namely, tight end Jared Cook, and wide receivers Tavon Austin, Chris Givens, Kenny Britt and Stedman Bailey - to take part in a show of solidarity by exiting the tunnel in the Hands-Up gesture prior to their game against the Oakland Raiders.
"I'm glad somebody else in the league said something besides me. I'm happy about somebody else taking a stand," said Richardson, who took to Twitter the night of the grand jury ruling on Nov. 24.
His tweet that night read "NOT A HAPPY CAMPER PPL got my a** kicked today n they let this pig get off. I just hope my fam okay.STL YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY PRAYERS."
Richardson, though he understands the delicate political and controversial nature of the situation, especially in relation to his employer, the NFL - which chose not to discipline the Rams players - said that he won't allow his views and opinions to be muffled.
"The NFL is the NFL. The NFLPA is the players," Richardson said. "So we have the option to do what we want as long as we're not throwing up obscene gestures. We're just protesting peacefully... It's an opinion. You're going to agree with it or you're not. I really don't give a damn if you agree with me or not. I don't care if you don't like me no more or don't root for me no more. I stand for what I stand for. I'm from St. Louis. I know how people act there. I'm used to it. I'm not going to change who I am because I got a fan base now."
He went on to say that while he was disappointed by the outcome of the case, he was not surprised by the outrage that followed.
"I've never had trust for them too much anyway really," Richardson said of law enforcement. "I've never depended on police officers. My Second Amendment rights in my household have always been used."
