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Title: ‘We were just praying for everyone’: Browns players explain decision to kneel during ‘National Anthem’
Source:
Fox 8 Cleveland
URL Source: http://fox8.com/2017/08/22/we-were- ... -kneel-during-national-anthem/
Published: Sep 2, 2017
Author: Staff
Post Date: 2017-09-02 08:53:04 by IbJensen
Keywords: None
Views: 12617
Comments: 49
(A group of Cleveland Browns players kneel in a circle in protest during the national anthem prior to a preseason game against the New York Giants at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 21, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) CLEVELAND, Ohio — Colin Kaepernick still is without an NFL team, but that hasn’t discouraged players for following his controversial lead and opting not to stand during the national anthem. Twelve members of the Cleveland Browns took a knee Monday night and shared a moment of prayer before their home preseason game against the New York Giants. Other teammates huddled around the group in support. It was the largest group of NFL players not to stand during the national anthem since Kaepernick started his protest a year ago, saying he didn’t want to “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick is biracial. “There’s a lot of social and racial injustices going on in the world right now,” said Browns safety Jabrill Peppers, one of the players who knelt. “We were just praying for everyone. Everyone thinks that when you reach a certain level, a certain status in life, certain things you’re unaffected by, but that’s not the truth. We’re all human at the end of the day, and we just have to come together at times like these. It was just us being together, a bunch of teammates praying for the world.” ‘Time for me to join my brothers’ The players who knelt were running backs Duke Johnson Jr. and Terrence Magee, safeties Peppers and Calvin Pryor, cornerback Jamar Taylor, tight end Seth DeValve, wide receivers Kenny Britt and Ricardo Louis, linebackers Christian Kirksey and Jamie Collins, and running backs Isaiah Crowell and Brandon Wilds. Crowell and Wilds were not in uniform. Standing nearby in solidarity were punter Britton Colquitt, cornerback Jason McCourty, quarterback DeShone Kizer, defensive tackle Trevon Coley and offensive tackle Shon Coleman. “Obviously, this is a sensitive subject in our country right now,” Kizer said. “Quite frankly — it is kind of sad on my part — I don’t really know the different teams and what they are doing, but I did see an opportunity with my guys to support them on an awesome venture out there when they decided that they are going to pray in a time where this country is kind of all over the place in a sense of human rights and the racial movements. I decided it was a time for me to join my brothers who decide to take a knee and support them while they were praying.” Kirksey, who led the prayer group, said the group felt like Monday night was the right time to do it. The game was broadcast on national television. “With everything you do, you have to have respect,” Kirksey said. “We did it in a way that resembled prayer. We were just praying over the country and praying over things going on. We did it as respectfully as possible, and we respect everything that happened with things in the military. We respect all of that. We just felt it was the right time for us to do this and say a prayer for this country.” First white NFL player to kneel DeValve is believed to be the first white NFL player to kneel during the anthem. After the game, DeValve, whose wife is African-American, said he didn’t realize he was the first white player to do so. “I, myself, will be raising children who don’t look like me,” DeValve said. “I want to do my part, as well, to do everything I can to raise them in a better environment (than) we have right now. I wanted to take that opportunity with my teammates to pray for our country and also to draw attention to the fact that we have work to do. That’s why I did what I did.” Last year, Kaepernick, then with the San Francisco 49ers, became a lightning rod when he refused to stand during the national anthem. The quarterback’s decision to sit — then, later, to kneel — drew fierce criticism but sparked a national movement. Other athletes, from elementary schools to professional leagues, followed his lead. Kaepernick, a free agent, remains unsigned. Poster Comment: The NFL is a farce! I don't watch their games at all. It's the most UN-diversified sport there is. I don't care to watch a gaggle of Negro millionaires wrestle around in the mud or AstroTurf. I'd rather watch a bullfight on You Tube from Madrid that's a year old. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 14.
#3. To: IbJensen (#0)
So for those who don't like these players kneeling to pray, did they also object to Tim Tebow kneeling to pray?
For everything these is a time. During the national anthem is not the time to pray.
You mean, during one verse of the national anthem. If you guys love it so much, why don't you demand the entire anthem be played? If you just sing the first verse, it closes with a question as to whether the Banner would survive the battle. As you progress into verses two, we find the Banner is holding on through the battle. In verse three, the Banner is waving in victory over the battle. Then verse 4 concludes by informing us that the Banner shall wave forever. For all the noise you hear about it, I don't think that the uber-patriots even like the anthem all that much. Not enough to pay attention to all four verses anyway. I bet 90% of America has no idea there are four verses, not one.
Ya Da, Ya Da,Ya Da We like it the way it is and don't really care what a moron like you says.
It's obvious you know I'm right. You just don't like it. Because you really don't like the anthem much at all.
I love our national anthem. People who don't aren't real Americans.
Sumtymes, your comments appear to represent you as a superficial simpleton.
Your comments against Trump prove you aren't an American patriot. You often come across as a whiney little bitch.
What has Trump done besides realizing wealth in the real estate markets? I discount the man as anything but a charlatan, the kind that sales snake oil. And you bought it; just like you voted for Bush and (later) McCain.
#15. To: buckeroo (#14)
He withdrew us from the Paris climate treaty. Which is more than you will ever do for our country. Like I said you are just a whiney little bitch that only complains about everything.
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#7. To: Tooconservative (#3)
#8. To: XDMAR (#7)
(Edited)
During the national anthem is not the time to pray.
#9. To: Tooconservative (#8)
#10. To: calcon (#9)
#11. To: Tooconservative (#10)
#12. To: A K A Stone (#11)
#13. To: buckeroo (#12)
#14. To: A K A Stone (#13)
Replies to Comment # 14.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 14.
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