Islanders’ Josh Ho-Sang says NFL players’ unity ‘amazing’ to see

Josh Ho-Sang certainly took notice of the many comments and actions from NFL and NBA players over the weekend, following President Donald Trump’s crude condemnation of Colin Kaepernick and the other NFLers who dropped to one knee for the national anthem.

The young Islanders forward told Newsday he supports what has been said and done in those other leagues, even if it’s a bit removed from him personally.

“I think what the NFL players are doing is amazing. It’s good that they’re all sticking together,” Ho-Sang said on Monday after the Islanders beat the Devils in a preseason game at Barclays Center. “I mean, I’m Canadian, so I don’t have too much input on the matter itself. It will affect me living in the States, but the biggest thing is it’s unfortunate that the message may have gotten lost a little. Now it’s becoming a battle between the NFL and the president and originally [the protests] started because of police brutality and the mistreatment of different races.”

Ho-Sang is biracial — he grew up in Toronto, his father was born in Jamaica and his mother in Chile – and has never been shy to speak his mind during his junior hockey days. He didn’t say whether he thought a player in the NHL would do something so demonstrative as kneel for the U.S. anthem before a game, but he said he is happy to see players around the NFL and the NBA sharing their viewpoints.

“It’s good that athletes are using their voices, something I’ve said multiple times,” he said. “As long as they’re going in a positive direction that’s all that matters. There’s no violence now in terms of the players, so that’s good as well.”