Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane sat in protest during the National Anthem before a week four preseason game between the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders. Lane was showing his support to 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who has recently come under fire for his decision to sit during the National Anthem. Something he’s been doing all preseason but no one noticed until three weeks into the preseason campaign.
Lane sat solo on the team bench while a little further south on the California coast Kaepernick and his teammate, safety Eric Reid, kneeled during the anthem. Lane, along with Kaepernick, says he will continue to sit during the protest until real changes are made. It now appears that he won’t be alone on the Seahawks sideline in doing so. On Sunday, the Seahawks will host the Miami Dolphins in a 4:05 PM ET week one game.
Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner said the following, courtesy of Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
While Wagner said he didn’t know if he would sit down during the anthem he said “anything we want to do, it’s not going to be individual. It’s going to be a team thing. That’s what the world needs to see. The world needs to see people coming together versus being individuals.”
Wagner said he couldn’t say exactly what the team might do, saying “whatever we decide to do will be a big surprise.”
Lane and Wagner’s teammate Doug Baldwin tweeted out the following.
To express a desire to bring people together, our team will honor the country and flag in a pregame demonstration of unity.
— Doug Baldwin Jr (@DougBaldwinJr) September 8, 2016
If the Seahawks are planning an entire team wide sign of protest, then people should be prepared. It’s not against any certain NFL rule to do so and it’s not a violation of any law. More than anything else, it’s a way for them to all show their right to do a peaceful protest in objection to mistreatment of people across the country at the hands of police officers and those in positions of power.
