Marshawn Lynch of the Oakland Raiders sat through the pregame performance of the national anthem at last night’s preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
The San Francisco Chronicle asked Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio about this after the game:
“He said, ‘This is something I have done for 11 years. It’s not a form of anything other than me being myself,’” Del Rio said. “I told him I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem. But I respect him as a man and he can do his thing.
“So, it’s a non-issue for me.”
Lynch was a vocal supporter of Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protests in 2016, telling Conan O’Brien, “my take on it is shit’s got to start somewhere, and if that was the starting point — I just hope people open up their eyes to see there’s really a problem going on, and something needs to be done for it to stop.” He may have exaggerated the 11 years thing—Pro Football Talk tracked down video of Lynch standing for the anthem in 2011 as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.
