Sometimes in life after searching for wisdom from the media, political figures, or public personalities, you're even more confused than when you started. I'd venture to say that's exactly how it goes in the current climate for most people. If you aren't confused, you're more certain that you're right and the other side is full of idiots who are downright wrong.

It's nearly impossible to see the common ground anymore.

After a season of looking for answers, former Red Raider Kliff Kingsbury turned to someone who he thought might have some authority on a subject. And even if he didn't, it's someone Kingsbury knew would at least give him some solid advice. That person was his father, Tim Kingsbury.

Tim Kingsbury is a Marine, a Vietnam veteran, and a Purple Heart recipient.

In a Thursday press conference, Kingsbury reflected on the things he and his father spoke about as it relates to the current landscape of the United States and the NFL.

Here's a transcript of his comments:

My dad was a longtime football coach but also a Marine. He served in Vietnam, received a Purple Heart. Talking to him, there were two words that really stood out. One was respect, and the second thing was understanding. Respect viewpoints people have on this topic. They're very personal and very passionate. And respect their right to express themselves.

 

You've got to understand, at its core, what this is really about. It's always been about drawing attention to the social injustice that continues to take place. We saw it again this week with Jacob Blake. It's about increasing awareness that racism exists, police brutality against people of color continues to happen, and let's not confuse it with something else and make the narrative different.

 

My biggest takeaway from talking to my dad is that kneeling doesn't reflect a lack of patriotism or respect for the military in any way, just like standing during the anthem doesn't mean you're OK with racism or social injustice. It's important to respect and understand that.

 

These are important issues that need to be addressed and important conversations that need to be had. I'm grateful that I've been able to be around a great group of guys that have enlightened me -- hearing their stories and their struggles. Those conversations will continue throughout the year. I just hope we can all continue the push in the right direction.

To me, one line sticks out above the rest. After the topic of kneeling or not kneeling is broached and how that doesn't mean you hate the other side, Kingsbury says: "It's important to respect and understand that." It's easy to see that respect and understanding have been forgotten in our social media-driven world.

In fact, respect and understanding used to prevalent in our society, especially in West Texas. I wonder if the world would improve drastically if we all took Tim Kingsbury's advice and lived with those two principles a little more often. I think it would.

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