Nick Bosa on Saturday morning received a very public congratulations from the person occupying the highest office in the United States.
President Donald Trump expressed congratulations to Bosa, whom the 49ers chose with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night.
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Bosa in the past has shown his support for Trump, once referring to him as G.O.A.T. (the greatest of all time).
During Bosa’s introductory press conference on Friday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, he apologized for calling former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick “a clown" more than 2 1/2 years ago on social media.
Bosa said his tweet from Aug. 31, 2016, was not in reference to Kaepernick’s stance against racial inequality in the U.S., but some specific incident to which he reacted quickly with a comment. Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the national anthem as a form of protest, beginning in the preseason that summer.
“Bad decision,” Bosa said of the Kaepernick tweet. “I respect what he’s done. If it empowers anybody, then he’s doing a good thing. I apologize for that.”
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A veteran African-American member of the 49ers on Friday told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area that he “will judge him (Nick Bosa) by the man he is when I meet him and interact with him over time.”