Aug. 26 Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers remained seated during the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner". Kaepernick stated "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," to the NFL media after the preseason game.
Kaepernick's act led to other NFL players doing their own version of a protest during the national anthem. His teammate,safety Eric Reid, was the first to support Kaepernick by kneeling during the National Anthem with Colin.
The following week the two protested again but with another supporter. Seattle Seahawks cornerback, Jeremy Lane became the first non-teammate to protest against the national anthem. He remained seated prior to the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Oakland Raiders. After the game, Lane told the NFL media that, "I wasn't trying to say anything. Just standing behind Kaepernick."
On September 9th, Brandon Marshall joined the trio in support by kneeling during the regular season opener. He claimed that "I'm not against the military. I'm not against the police or America," But he then subsequently was terminated by both Colorado and CenturyLink because of his stance against social injustice by way of a kneeling protest.
Sunday September 11th marked the 15th anniversary of terrorist attacks in 2001. It was also football Sunday which led to four Miami Dolphins protesting the national anthem. It was more of the same behavior but many viewers were more outraged because of the 15th anniversary. Which led the Dolphins to release a statement. Shortly stating ""We encourage all members of our organization to stand at attention during the national anthem out of respect and appreciation for the freedoms we are afforded as Americans. We also recognize that it’s an individual’s right to reflect during the anthem in different ways. We respect these liberties and appreciate the sacrifices that everyone has made for our country, especially on this day of remembrance. We hope today's events will continue a respectful and thoughtful dialogue in our community on unity, inclusiveness and togetherness."
Moreover, Colin Kaepernick definitely started a conversation for all, and moving forward we should focus more on the message and not the method.
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