On
Saturday evening, as the rest of the Oakland Raiders players and staff
stood during the playing of the national anthem before the team’s
preseason game with the Arizona Cardinals, one player did not join them.
Running back Marshawn Lynch, who did not play in the game, was seated, on an orange Gatorade cooler.
Here is Lynch from the opposite angle, as tweeted by photographer Mark Rebilas:
It is unclear at this point whether Lynch was protesting or if he was protesting, why.
Last
season, as then-San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled
during the anthem to protest injustice against people of color, Lynch
was retired.
But last September, he appeared on the Conan O’Brien show and gave his support to Kaepernick’s protest.
“With what’s going on, I’d rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered,” Lynch said.
He
added that he hoped people would focus more on Kaepernick’s cause –
standing up against police brutality and working for racial equality –
instead of his method of protest.
“I
just hope people open up their eyes and see that there’s really a big
problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop,” Lynch
said.
Lynch
has not been the most talkative player in front of cameras and
recorders, so it remains to be seen whether he will shed any light on
his actions Saturday night.
Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said this week he will continue
to raise his right first during the anthem this season, as he did last
year. Jenkins released a statement explaining his stance:
“Last
season, I raised my fist as a sign of solidarity to support people,
especially people of color, who were and are still unjustly losing their
lives at the hands of officers with little to no consequence.
“After
spending time with police officers on ride-alongs, meeting with
politicians on the state and federal level and grassroots organizations
fighting for human rights, it’s clear that our criminal justice system
is still crippling communities of color through mass incarceration.”
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