On Thursday night, as the season proper kicked off with a re-match of the Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, Brandon Marshall made a decision to join in on the protests (Eric Reid and Jeremy Lane have also been involved) and has been dropped by one of his sponsors as a result.
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“We completely respect Brandon Marshall’s personal decision and right to take an action to support something in which he strongly believes”.
On Friday, in a statement on Facebook, Strebe said: “Although we have enjoyed Brandon Marshall as our spokesperson over the past five months, Air Academy Federal Credit Union (AAFCU) has ended our partnership”.
A handful of NFL players joined San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s controversial protest against racial inequality on Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks – kneeling or raising fists during the U.S. national anthem.
San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick began the protests when he refused to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner” during preseason games, at first choosing to sit on the bench and then later kneeling on one knee in a gesture that has divided fans. “I’m here to spread love and positivity”, Marshall said.
Von Miller, the Broncos’ Super Bowl MVP linebacker, said after Thursday’s game that though he was “not going to kneel for the national anthem” he felt “it should be a change”.
It also blindsided coach Gary Kubiak who had a talk with his player before telling reporters, “Brandon has the right to his beliefs and I am going to keep us focused on the football”. But, the company said, “we also occasionally must stand together to show our allegiance to our common bond as a nation. the national anthem is one of those moments”.
Marshall said he would join him and donate an disclosed amount to charities, including Wounded Warriors. “Twitter is words. But people have said some mean things”.
Marshall isn’t the first NFL player to kneel during the anthem as a protest against incidents of police brutality in the United States, but he is the first league athlete to lose an endorsement deal for it.
“I just lost another endorsement, ” Marshall said. I’m not here to spread hate or negativity. “Like I told you guys last night, he’s a great kid”. And I want to make it clear that there is no disrespect to the military or to police officers -I’m not about that.
“I have family members in the army, it’s a different kind of feeling”, Jones said. The display was not coordinated with the host Seahawks, who linked arms in a demonstration of unity.
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Marshall and Kaepernick both attended the University of Nevada – Reno.
