NFL Players Take a Kneel

On Saturday, September 23rd, President Trump tweeted about his thoughts on the national anthem and what he believes about individuals who kneel during the song. 

He wrote: “ If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect….” and “…our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”

This tweet created a storm of emotion and opinion from people all across America, especially NFL teams who were playing games that Sunday. With support from owners of the teams, many NFL players chose to kneel during the playing of the national anthem. Those who did not kneel opted to stand and link arms with other teammates to show their opinion as well.

After the games began and Trump saw what was happening, he tweeted that he respected standing and linking arms, but kneeling was unacceptable and disrespectful to our country and those who have fought for it. Players from many different NFL teams talked about their feelings on the tweet that Trump sent out and many agreed that they were disappointed in the way Trump addressed the issue.

The controversy was originally sparked about a year ago, when Quarterback for the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick, decided to kneel during one of his games to show his support against police brutality and support the “Black Lives Matter” movement.  After the incident, he was not offered a contract and is currently frozen in the NFL. The owner of the league further commenting that “no one wants to deal with that”. Kaepernick’s protest was one of the biggest uproars in the NFL at the time and caused people to talk about the issue, now players are showing their support all over the U.S..