NFL players across the league protested the injustices that minorities in the United State face — a continuation of a movement started in 2016 by Colin Kaepernick.
FOX, among other outlets, aired the national anthems across the league on Sunday. For the Falcons vs. Lions broadcast, they showed players, coaches, and owners locking arms with players. However, they did not show players who decided to take a knee.
At the end of the anthem, the singer — Rico Lavelle — took a knee and raised a fist in protest.
Lions reporter Tori Petry tweeted a photo of eight Lions players who took a knee:
Ebron center, 8 kneeling players on the right. Ngata has his hand on Washington’s shoulder, Worrilow holding hands with Reeves-Maybin pic.twitter.com/pXXCh1PpvE
— Tori Petry (@sportstori) September 24, 2017
A pair of Falcons — Grady Jarrett and Donatri Poe — also took a knee in protest:
Strange times: As Anthem played, Jarrett/Poe took knee, prompting one fan not far from Falcons bench to yell, “Stand up or move to Canada." pic.twitter.com/DSGdxzVUXy
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) September 24, 2017
There have been more protests around the NFL after President Donald Trump attacked NFL players who participated in protests in a speech he gave on Friday night.
Trump said that NFL owners who see players “disrespecting the flag” should say, “get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired.” He later doubled down on his comments via Twitter.