NFL players still are discussing how they will use their voices in Week One.
Some players already have committed individually to kneeling during the national anthem. Others, though, want to make a statement as a team.
The Chiefs and Texans have discussed staying in the locker room for the national anthem tonight as a joint demonstration, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports. Darius Leonard said the Colts want to “make a bold statement” and “show unity as a team.”
Running back Saquon Barkley said Giants’ captains will talk today with the rest of the team about what they plan to do during the national anthem.
“We want it to be team-oriented,” Barkley said, via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.com, “where we find a way to do it in the right way, where we can still have impact.”
Colin Kaepernick first protested social injustice during the anthem in 2016.
Players have sat, taken a knee and stayed in the locker room since, and George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis in May has revived players’ desire to protest police brutality, social injustice and racial inequality.