Eric Reid, Michael Thomas Withdraw from the Players Coalition

Defensive backs Michael Thomas and Eric Reid, of the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers respectively, announced Wednesday they are no longer going to work with the Players Coalition. 

Both players released statements on social media saying the goals of the coalition, formed by the Philadelphia Eagles' Malcolm Jenkins and longtime NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin, are no longer in line with the best interest of all players:

Jenkins and Boldin discussed the decision to start the group with Jenny Vrentas and Kalyn Kahler of Sports Illustrated in September, saying they wanted to ensure the dialogue about important issues continued amid attacks on players who knelt during the U.S. national anthem.

"We would rather not be demonstrating or protesting," Jenkins said. "The only reason that we feel it necessary is that guys have been doing work on their own in these areas, whether it be racial justice, social justice, criminal justice reform or civil rights. Athletes have been doing this work for a long time. We just don't hear about it, and it doesn't get the same kind of hype. That's where these demonstrations are useful, because regardless of how you feel about them, they keep that conversation going."

"There are a lot of issues we are dealing with as Americans that are just unfair, and there are a lot of prejudices we have to deal with," Boldin added. "A lot of the laws we abide by now are targeting certain groups of people, and it's a continual cycle. When you are talking about criminal justice reform, it's the system as a whole, it's not the community vs. police. That's not it at all. But I think a lot of people aren't educated enough to know exactly what we are fighting for."

Thomas and Reid didn't provide any further details about their decision to walk away from the coalition.

Jim Trotter and Jason Reid of ESPN.com noted the NFL has provided players with a proposal to contribute "at least $89 million over a seven-year period" to fund causes in African-American communities as part of an effort to end protests during the anthem.

The report added players are scheduled to discuss the offer during a conference call Wednesday night, but noted "not all players are in agreement on the proposal."

In September, Reid wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about taking a knee alongside former Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who became the face of the anthem protests during the 2016 NFL preseason.

"It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it's exactly the opposite," he wrote. "It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest."

The issue has remained a polarizing topic, however, with President Donald Trump saying NFL owners should fire players who don't stand during the national anthem.

A CNN poll released following Trump's comments in September showed 49 percent of respondents called the anthem protests the "wrong thing" to do, while 43 percent said it was the "right thing."