With the Phillies elimination from the 2011 playoffs, Rollins became a free agent. While Rollins and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. want to see him back in red pinstripes, there is a big possibility that Rollins may not be back in Philadelphia next year.
During his Oct. 11 press conference, Chris Murray asked Rollins if he felt any personal satisfaction for bringing in a new generation of Black fans whose parents and grandparents refused to root for the Phillies because of the team’s hostile treatment of Jackie Robinson when he broke the color-line with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the organization’s treatment of Dick Allen when he was with the Phillies:
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Growing up in South Jersey as a Black disabled child of the 60’s and watched the way they(Philly) treated Dick Allen I have very hard time rooting for the Phillies.. if a black player wins the game its o.k. and everybody is happy but if he does not do well they run him out of town. just as they ran Terrell Owens out of town and they ran Donavan McNabb and we cannot forget Randall Cunningham. After the Allen incident my family became Met fans