Marshawn Lynch made news this weekend by choosing to sit during the national anthem before the Oakland Raiders-Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night.
The ex-Seattle running back recently came out of retirement, and chose to use this pre-season game to stay seated.
His actions backup the verbal support he has shown Colin Kaepernick in the past. Kaepernick decided to kneel during the anthem last season in protest of police mistreatment of black folk.
“I’d rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered,” Lynch told talk show host Conan O’Brien.
“My take on it is, [stuff], it got to start somewhere and if that was the starting point, I just hope people open up their eyes and see that it’s really a problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop. If you really not racist, then you won’t see what [Kaepernick is] doing as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have.”
The Raiders coach said he had spoken to Lynch about the issue after the game: “He said, ‘This is something I’ve done for 11 years. It’s not a form of anything other than me being myself,’” Coach Jack Del Rio said.
The coach said that he told Lynch: “Just so you understand how I feel, I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem, but I’m going to respect