Marshall is the third American football player to refuse to stand for the national anthem since Kaepernick, the San Francisco quarterback, remained seated during the anthem at a pre-season game in August, as a protest against racial injustice in the US.
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“I’m not against the military”, Marshall said following the game. Text on a photo of him kneeling reads “I’m not against the military, I’m not against the police or America”.
Marshall was dropped as an endorsed sponsor by Air Academy Federal Credit Union on Friday.
On Friday, his expectation become reality when Air Academy Federal Credit Union released Marshall from his endorsement deal.
We completely respect Brandon Marshall’s personal decision and right to take an action to support something in which he strongly believes. “We wish Brandon well on his future endeavors”, wrote president Glen Strebe on Facebook.
Marshall is the first player who’s lost an endorsement deal over his decision to protest.
Marshall said Thursday that he made the calculated decision to kneel for the anthem after discussing it with family and friends, as well as Broncos tight end Virgil Green. It’s nearly like they want us to only go with the grain. In the eyes of a lot of people, I’ll be respected.
His teammate, Eric Reid, notably joined him in kneeling through the national anthem in their final preseason game last week.
“Colin is my fraternity brother, my ex-teammate”, the University of Nevada alum said.
In response to a fan burning his jersey at the Broncos’ facilities, Marshall said: “It’s an evil world”.
“Brandon is a great kid”. His simple gesture quickly garnered both support and criticism, with players such as Drew Brees saying he should find another way to express his opinion, and members of the military lending their support to his right to highlight the issue of social injustice. No other players joined in the protest. “In the eyes of most people, I’ll be hated”, said Marshall, according to Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post.
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Marshall called it, “A lot of positive feedback for me and what I believe in”.
