Minor league team apologizes for poking at Kaepernick

A minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs briefly waded into political territory Wednesday, then quickly backed away. The Double-A Tennessee Smokies apologized after poking at quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick in an attempt to make light of the recent controversy surrounding the "Betsy Ross flag."

Nike intended to release a Fourth of July themed shoe this week with the 13-star American flag, but it scrapped the plan after Kaepernick, one of the company's commercial spokesmen, came out in opposition. According to Kaepernick and others, the old-style flag is offensive becomes it represents the time of slavery and because of its recent co-option by white supremacist groups. The Smokies drew the Betsy Ross flag in the infield dirt in Kodak, Tenn., on Wednesday, then tweeted, "Hey @Kaepernick7 after a lot of thought, we have decided it's best to just do it. #America"

The team later deleted the tweet, then posted on Twitter, "Regarding one of our recent tweets regarding @Kaepernick7 and our field design for tonight's game, it was meant to be a light-hearted take on a current situation. We did not mean to offend anyone by it. If it did, we certainly apologize."