海角大神

Colin Kaepernick, the backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, drew jeers and cheers during the NFL preseason when he chose not to stand for the playing of the national anthem. Now, during the opening week of the National Football League season, more players have joined Mr. Kaepernick in passive protests over racial injustice. And some are now pledging to do more than participate in pre-game protests.听

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick ,聽as NFL.com reported, following a late August preseason game against the Greenbay Packers. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Kaepernick鈥檚 decision not to stand brought a聽 as some fans immediately posted videos of themselves burning his jersey while playing the national anthem, the Daily Mail reported. Others highlighted images of wounded veterans holding themselves upright in wheelchairs. Another video surfaced of US Olympic pole vaulter and , who is a second lieutenant in the US Army Reserve, stopping mid-run to stand at attention when he heard the national anthem playing during his qualifying round, reported The Washington Post.

But this past weekend saw more NFL players joining the protest 鈥� kneeling or locking arms as a team 鈥� during the national anthem, drawing further commentary from to . Brendan Marshall, a linebacker for the Denver Broncos even lost a sponsorship by taking a knee during the anthem, Reuters reported.

NFL Hall of Fame coach and two-time Super Bowl Champion, Tony Dungy weighed in on ," saying that as a coach he took America's national anthem very seriously. In fact, his teams practiced it and even video-taped it during preseason games.

"My dad was a teacher. He had enlisted in the service to fight in World War II. And he did that even though he knew when he came back he wouldn't be able to ride in the聽front of some buses. He wouldn't be able to teach in white schools. But he fought for our country." Mr. Dungy said, talking about his own experience following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1968 Olympics. "And聽when I asked him what I should do, he said, 'Do what you think is going to help make the situation better.' "

Dungy went on to say that as a coach he would have supported players' decision to kneel during the anthem if they could explain what exactly they were doing that would positively impact their situation, as opposed to simply following another player's lead.

This past Sunday, as pre-game events commemorated聽the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, both the and the Seattle Seahawks stood, at their respective games, together on the sideline as a team with their arms locked together throughout the duration of the national anthem as a gesture of solidarity, reported USA Today.听

However, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman 鈥� no stranger to the media himself with some of his outspoken comments 鈥� as Dungy, telling the Seattle Times that, "gestures mean nothing without follow-through.... People get confused that you gotta go out there and make this gesture and then make people aware of it 鈥� but we're more about action."

Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin agreed. "The difference between a mob and a movement is the follow-through," he said, stating that part of their action is setting up meetings with Seattle Mayor Ed Murray as well as with police departments throughout Washington.听Sherman (a Stanford graduate) also described how he and his teammates go into the inner city with backpacks and school supplies for impoverished kids who otherwise wouldn't have access to them.

Are other NFL players doing more than protesting? Kaepernick has pledged to donate $1 million of his $11.9 million base salary to various charities working to improve the issues he is passionate about. Last Thursday,聽the San Francisco 49ers announced that they, too, have pledged $1 million to two Bay Area organizations that focus on the type of racial and social inequities that Kaepernick has raised concerns about, .听

And Kaepernick isn't just protesting,聽reports 海角大神, he is also listening as evidenced by his decision to move from sitting to kneeling as a protest, after a conversation with a teammate.听

Kaepernick said he decided to kneel after a conversation with Boyer before the game. Boyer had published聽聽to Kaepernick in The Army Times the day before.

鈥淓ven though my initial reaction to your protest was one of anger,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to listen to what you鈥檙e saying and why you鈥檙e doing it.鈥�

It appears that Kaepernick listened to him as well. Boyer聽聽that he encouraged the quarterback to kneel, rather than sit.听