NFL star running back Adrian Peterson said he plans to kneel during the national anthem in the upcoming season.
“Just four years ago, you’re seeing Kaepernick taking a knee, and now we’re all getting ready to take a knee together going into this season, without a doubt,” Peterson, the 2012 NFL MVP, said to the Houston Chronicle. “Yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt,” he added when he was asked if he planned on kneeling.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, started the trend of kneeling for the national anthem before games in 2016 in protest of police brutality and systemic racism. Other players in the NFL and other leagues followed suit.
In 2018, public opinion showed over half the country opposed kneeling during the anthem. President Trump added fuel to the controversy by calling on NFL owners to fire any player who “disrespects our flag.”
Renewed talk of kneeling during the “Star-Spangled Banner” began after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on Memorial Day after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes despite his pleas for air.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees sparked controversy last week when he disavowed players kneeling before games, saying, “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
Several athletes, including some of Brees’s teammates, expressed shock and insult at the quarterback’s remarks.
Brees later apologized, saying, “I would like to apologize to my friends, teammates, the City of New Orleans, the black community, NFL community, and anyone I hurt with my comments yesterday. In speaking with some of you, it breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused. In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country.”
The NFL issued a statement last week saying they were wrong for opposing the silent form of protest.
