NFL players continue to take a knee during the national anthem despite growing pushback from their team owners.
Seven San Francisco 49er players took a knee Sunday during the anthem in their game against the Washington Redskins. A small number of individual players in other games across the league also knelt, according to the Washington Post.
Their protest continues as owners have become more resistant after seemingly expressing their support for players’ right to protest a few weeks ago.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones promised to bench players who knelt after talking to President Trump (Jones is yet to see who will test him since the Cowboys did not play this week). Trump has ramped up pressure on owners in recent weeks to stomp out any form of protest against the flag.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross also said that “it’s incumbent on the players” to stand during the anthem.
It is no surprise that the 49ers are the team that has shown the strongest show of protest. Colin Kaepernick was a backup quarterback on the team when he first decided to sit during the anthem. He then adjusted to kneeling to erase the perception that he was disrespecting military veterans.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that “everyone should stand for the National Anthem” in a letter to NFL teams last week. But he did not threaten players with punishment.
“We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players,” he wrote.
