Oakland Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch sits during national anthem, then scores touchdown
Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch on Monday continued his practice of sitting down during the national anthem, The Hill and other news organizations are reporting.
Then Lynch scored a touch down in the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
Former San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players have been taking a knee during the anthem in protest of police misconduct and treatment of people of color in America. Lynch, meantime, spent all of last season sitting down during the traditional singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” but he has never explained why, The Hill reports.
Regardless of the intended message, Marshawn Lynch’s demonstration marks the third time NFL players have used their places on the field to make a statement in the brand new football season.
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Miami Dolphins wide receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson took a knee during the national anthem on Sunday and defensive end Robert Quinn raised a fist just before their season opener with the Tennessee Titans. Stills did the same last season too and did say during an interview that we would stop if Kaepernick and Eric Reid, both of whom have grievances with the NFL, were to be signed to teams.
Kaepernick began taking a knee in 2016 while still with the 49ers. He remains without a team since launching the movement.
READ MORE: Colin Kaepernick praises two Miami Dolphins players for kneeling during national anthem
Taking a knee has been front and center nationwide in recent weeks since Nike launched a campaign marking the 30th anniversary of its “Just Do It” slogan and dubbed Kaepernick as the face of it. The campaign, which includes a commercial and poster, has prompted emotional reaction on either side of the issue, with Kaepernick supporters ordering “I’m with Kap” merchandise and wearing Nike clothing prominently, and opponents promising to burn any belongings created by Nike and posting photos on social media of scraps of cloth with the Nike swoosh cut from their clothing.
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