Michigan State legend Tom Izzo is admitting he was WRONG to be mad about Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest ... saying George Floyd's death helped him understand what the movement was all about.
"Listen, I learn lessons too. And, I’m still learning at this age," 65-year-old Izzo said on 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday.
"I talked to all those people to try to get a good feel. And, what I realized is, I wasn’t real happy with the Colin Kaepernick thing when it happened."
Izzo says he initially thought kneeling for the anthem was disrespectful to the flag ... but years later, he now knows what Kap was doing.
"And, yet, as I look back on it, how ignorant am I? Because that was a peaceful protest."
Izzo added he was "sickened" by Floyd's death last month ... saying, "It was real and it was disappointing, but it was disgusting."
"None of us know all the things that happen, but a human life is a human life and we’re treating it like it’s nothing."
Izzo isn't alone in switching his stance on the anthem -- NFL commish Roger Goodell recently apologized for how the league mishandled the kneeling protests ... and Drew Brees has also had a change of heart.