Kenny Stills Getting Death Threats After Criticizing Pro-Trump Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills didn't mince words on social media after team owner Stephen Ross hosted a fundraiser for President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign at his house in the Hamptons.

And in the aftermath, Stills says he has received between five and 10 death threats on social media-- but he isn't backing down.

In a recent interview with the Miami Herald, the veteran NFL receiver offered a bit more insight into why he felt the need to speak out.

“If you’re going to associate with bad people, then people are going to know about it,” he said of Ross' association with Trump. "...If you say you’re going to be about something, let’s be about it.”

The controversy started when Stills objected to the mission statement of Ross' non-profit, the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE). He took to Twitter Wednesday morning to accuse the owner of hypocrisy.

In the same way Ross has the right to publicly express his views and spend his money the way he sees fit, Stills has the right to disagree with his decisions. The fact that Stills was subject to death threats for expressing his discontent in a strong but civil manner, of course, is deplorable.

Stills is no stranger to social activism, as he made headlines in 2016 by kneeling for the National Anthem of a preseason game.

"Activism isn't something you just kind of get involved in and then turn your back on it," Stills told reporters after the 2016 incident. It's good to see Stills standing behind his word three years later.