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'I'm not criticizing nobody:' Cowboys' Dez Bryant opens up on national anthem protests, race relations and more

An innocent comment made in jest has once again ignited a social media backlash about Dez Bryant's reluctance to wade into the contentious debate about players choosing not to stand for the national anthem.

The unlikely spark was a Bryant tweet that he wouldn't go back to a specific Blaze Pizza location because one of the employees was a New York Giants fan. Bryant was clearly joking. But when ESPN's Jemele Hill saw a post that the Cowboys receiver was going to boycott Blaze Pizza, she pointed out Bryant was willing to boycott a pizza chain but was unwilling to take a more forceful or meaningful stance regarding the anthem.

Bryant responded on social media before Thursday's practice then did so again in a nearly 10-minute session with reporters at his locker once practice was done. He said he had no clue how joking about an exchange with an employee at a pizza place could be connected to the anthem debate.

"I'll tell you this, extremely disappointing because I didn't think it was that serious,'' Bryant said. "It wasn't. You've got to live. You've got to have fun. You can't be too uptight all the time.

"I swear to ? it was nothing personal when I tweeted that out to that girl (Blaze employee). I hope she didn't lose her job, I hope she didn't, just because it's not that serious.''

Bryant also wanted to make it clear he's not criticizing any NFL player who chooses to protest by not standing for the national anthem.

"I'm not criticizing nobody,'' Bryant said. "They're free to do whatever they want. Hell no, I'm not doing none of that. Their beliefs are their beliefs and I'm not saying they're wrong because they're feeling a certain way. They're supposed to.

"I'm just saying OK, I want to lead by example by doing positive. I'm not saying what they're doing is wrong. I just have my ways of going about things.''

All of this goes back to a comment Bryant made in training camp a week-and-a-half ago. Asked his thoughts on players choosing not to stand for the anthem, he said, "Whatever they got going on with that, that's them...I don't really have nothing to say about that.''

The apparent indifference of that response opened Bryant to criticism. He wanted to clarify his thoughts about the anthem and offer his take on racial relations Thursday.

"My whole thing about that whole situation is like people think that I don't care,'' Bryant said. "That's crazy.

"People are entitled to their own opinion. I can't sit here and get mad too. I'm just saying if you don't like black people, that's what you choose to do. But I know he might like a black person and he might like a black person and we on the same page so hey, we get along. I'm not fit to sit here and go crazy.''

Bryant pointed to different people in the media while making his point before returning to his original comments about the anthem protests.

"Back to speaking on that issue, like I said, I didn't mean no harm at the moment not wanting to speak on that situation or anything like that,'' Bryant said. "We just came off a great practice, we're doing great things, it's a positive environment, we're having a great time.

"I just feel like my real response to that is I'm leading by example. I go home, what's happening, being positive toward people, it's not meant for everybody to understand. It's never going to be. Everybody is not going to get it. You've got to be there for the ones who want to get it, who want to understand it, who want positive surrounding them.

"I'm the first to say, my childhood was bad, it was poor, but I don't let it weigh on my shoulders,'' Bryant continued. "I don't. I try my best to become a better person from it and do the exact opposite. That's why I try to show people, that's what I try to show these young kids. What I love about my home town, Lufkin, Texas, you can see them trying to do the same thing. I love and I respect it. It's going to get us far.

"Like I said, it's not for everybody to understand, but if we can reach as many people, we're going to do that. Like I said, if you want real peace, that's how you get real peace. That's my opinion.''