Three players from the Philadelphia Eagles raised their fists in protest during the National Anthem before their Monday night game against the Chicago Bears.
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The veteran Eagles’ safety had stated his intention to make a stand for social injustice in a Friday night radio interview, then repeated it for reporters after Saturday afternoon’s practice.
Malcolm Jenkins (27) and Ron Brooks (33) stage their protest.
Jenkins played football for Ohio State from 2005-2008.
Jenkins said last week he planned to join the protests, sparked by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the NFL’s pre-season. “We didn’t want to mess with that day”.
At the time, he wasn’t sure what he and the teammates who join him would choose to do. It’s just a lot of things systematically that have been set up in this country, since its inception that really put minorities, especially African-Americans, at a disadvantage, when you’re talking about quality of life and actually growing in this country.
“Sometimes you’ve got to rock the boat to get a little bit of change”, Jenkins said Saturday.
Pederson also called Jenkins a “class act”, a “great teammate” and a “great leader” who does a lot for the community, according to ESPN.
While the reasons for the protest begun by Colin Kaepernick have gotten muddied in conversations about the sanctity of the American flag, the American military, and various other tangentially related topics, Kaepernick made his own reasons for kneeling during the anthem – police brutality against black citizens, and other racial inequalities that persist in America – quite clear from the beginning.
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A youth football team in Beaumont, Texas, has even vowed to continue protesting the anthem despite receiving death threats. Kaepernick ended up kneeling during the anthem in the 49ers’ final preseason game after meeting with former long snapper and Green Beret, Nate Boyer, about getting his message back on track. He has said that his protests will continue until this is “significant change” and he feels “like the flag represents what it’s supposed to”.
