Which NFL Player Did Not Protest During the National Anthem?
A growing number of NFL players are taking a knee as a sign of protest. It happens during the singing of the national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," before the start of every game but is there an NFL team or player who is not doing what the others are doing?
NFL players compete against each other on the field and some games might get heated and result in brawls. This movement sweeping across the league, however, seems to have united the athletes across states as they either take a knee or lock arm-in-arm with each other, or the opposing team, or with the coaches, owners, and the crowd during the national anthem.
According to CNN, a player from the Pittsburgh Steelers did not join his teammates who holed up in the tunnel until the crowd stopped singing the anthem during the game on Sunday, Sept. 24. Offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva stood up and placed his hand over his heart when "The Star-Spangled Banner" played but the Steelers' action of sitting out earned some criticisms, which forced its owner Art Rooney II to issue a statement.
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"The intentions of Steelers players were to stay out of the business of making political statements by not taking the field," Rooney said. "Unfortunately, that was interpreted as a boycott of the anthem — which was never our players' intention."
Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers started taking a knee 13 months ago as a matter of personal choice. He wanted to honor fallen soldiers who fought for the American flag. Later on, he knelt for victims of injustice, especially African Americans and other people of color.
But Kaepernick's action gained momentum among his colleagues in the next few months. At last Sunday's games, NFL players from teams like the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans also knelt or locked arms.
The action earned criticism from President Donald Trump who tweeted that NFL players should stand up during the national anthem, but there is nothing in the NFL rulebook that requires players to be present on the field or standing up during the national anthem, according to Snopes.
Following his tweet, celebrities from Hollywood, musicians and other sportsmen from basketball and tennis posted photos of themselves taking a knee to show solidarity for the NFL players.
