Elaine Thompson/Associated Press
Frail Seattle Seahawks player and Inexperienced Beret Nate Boyer tweeted Sunday that it wasn’t unpatriotic to kneel sooner than the American flag.
He called it a “image of freedom and hope, no longer yet experienced by ALL”:
Nate Boyer @NateBoyer37
Welp, it’s #FlagDay ?? Appropriate a friendly reminder that it’s no longer racist to honor it & it’s no longer unpatriotic to kneel sooner than it. From Independence Hall in Philly to the friggin’ Moon in Outer Explain the Frail Frail Flag has endured; a image of freedom & hope, no longer yet experienced by ALL https://t.co/hP1BbHudxQ
Boyer famously consulted with Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when the then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback was once sitting at some level of the nationwide anthem sooner than preseason NFL video games, as a remark to racial injustice and police brutality.
Boyer mentioned that he reached out to Kaepernick consequently of he was once upset given what the anthem and American flag symbolically intended to him as a worn, though he understood and supported the message Kaepernick was once sending.
Kaepernick spoke back, suggesting they meet, and the 2 of them discussed his remark and came to a compromise—Kaepernick would kneel barely than sitting on the behest of Boyer, who view it was over again respectful.
“In my opinions and in my ride, kneeling’s by no way been in our history genuinely seen as a disrespectful act,” Boyer instructed NPR in 2018. “I imply, of us kneel after they win knighted. You kneel to propose to your wife, and you desire a knee to hope. And infantrymen customarily desire a knee in front of a fallen brother’s grave to pay respects. So I believed, if anything else, besides standing, that was once basically the most respectful.”
No matter that compromise, Kaepernick’s kneeling remained highly contentious across the nation and NFL, and remained a hotly debated area after he went unsigned following the 2016 season, as other NFL gamers and athletes in other sports persevered to kneel and quite a lot of Kaepernick supporters argued he had been blackballed by the league for his affairs of disclose.
And given the protests that have damaged out across the nation and world condemning systemic racism and police brutality, those conversations will proceed this upcoming season.
Diverse NFL gamers have already confirmed they thought to kneel at some level of the anthem, alongside side Washington running wait on Adrian Peterson, Chicago Bears safety Jordan Lucas and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has additionally mentioned he’ll kneel.
