Kneeling for the national anthem in protest of police brutality and social injustice again has become news. Drew Brees, President Donald Trump and Akiem Hicks are among those who have created headlines last week with comments related to kneeling during the anthem.
Players will kneel this season. Washington running back Adrian Peterson is one of the big-name players who already has committed to kneeling during the anthem. It’s just a matter of how many will kneel and for how many games.
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said his team has not discussed the possibility of pregame protests yet, but anything they do, including taking a knee, will come with the organization’s blessing.
“Obviously, we’re going to support our guys. They know that,” Kingsbury said, via Kyle Odegard of the team website.
Kingsbury gave the team a day off last week to process everything and as a “tribute to George Floyd as well.” He said he’s “very proud” of Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson and DeAndre Hopkins for speaking out.
“As an organization, we want them to know we support them. From the top down,” Kingsbury said. “Michael (Bidwill) has called me multiple times to talk through things: ‘How can we help?’
“The racial injustice, the police brutality toward people of color, it has to stop. We’re all hopeful this is the catalyst for that change.”