New Panther Torrey Smith: 'President spreads false narrative that players are anti-military'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Torrey Smith, one of the newest members of the Carolina Panthers, played for and won a Super Bowl last year with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Smith’s comments, on Twitter, reacting to President Donald Trump uninviting the Eagles to the White House, have gone viral.

[RELATED: Trump calls off Eagles visit over anthem dispute]

NFL owners voted to change the national anthem policy at the spring meetings in Atlanta, and just last week, speaking to the media after organized team activities, Smith, a veteran wide receiver, predicted that it would stir the pot.

"Telling your guys to stand up when they're protesting, when honestly I thought it about died off,” Smith said.

The NFL’s new policy requires players on the field to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner.

Last week, Smith, who said his father served in the Army for 20 years, emphasized player protests aren't against the flag or military.

"It takes away even further from what the message was, which was against police brutality, which evolved to the criminal justice system and a lot of other inequalities that we have,” Smith said.

Trump uninvited Smith's former team, the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles, to the White House, saying it was because some members disagreed with the policy.

Smith's disputed portions of Trump’s statement, tweeting: “Not many people were going to go; No one refused simply because the president insists folks stand for the anthem; the president continues to spread the false narrative that players are anti-military.”

Smith added, “It’s a cowardly act to cancel the celebration because the majority of the people don't want to see you” and “To make it about the anthem is foolish.”

Going back to what sparked the firestorm, Smith said the NFL dropped the ball by creating further divide with its new policy.

"It's not the NFL’s sole fight to change the world, but the NFL has an opportunity to have a big influence being again that their league is 70 percent African-American. We have an opportunity to bring a lot of people together,” Smith said.

New Panthers owner David Tepper flew to Charlotte following the NFL spring meetings to meet with team leaders regarding, among other topics, the new anthem policy.

"Oh, I wasn't in there, but I heard it was awesome,” Smith said. “I heard he's a great guy, very passionate about winning and the community."

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