Adrian Peterson, Veteran Christian NFL player for the Washington Redskins, said that he and other players plan to continue Colin Kaepernick’s controversial take a knee protest during the national anthem. The protest is a stand against racial injustice and police brutality. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, support for the Black Lives Matter movement is rising.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust four years ago, you\u2019re seeing Kaepernick taking a knee, and now we\u2019re all getting ready to take a knee together going into this season, without a doubt,\u201d Peterson, 35, told the Houston Chronicle in an interview published Friday.<\/p>\n
Asked by the newspaper again if he planned to take a knee, he said: “Yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt.”<\/p>\n
Kaepernick, former NFL player and Christian, first began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 while he was a player for the San Fancisco 49ers. It brought up controversy and divide within the NLF and across the nation. Later in 2018 the NFL announced new rules requiring all players to stand for the national anthem, stay in the locker room if they can’t, or face a fine for breaking them.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Roger Goodwell, NFL commissioner, said in a video that the league was wrong in how it treated players protesting systematic racism.<\/p>\n
“We, the National Football League, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people,” Goodell said. “We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all players to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the National Football League, believe that black lives matter.”<\/p>\n
Peterson sees this as the league evolving. He believes that if all NFL players step up it can make a real difference.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got to put the effort in as a group collectively,” he said. “Are they going to try to punish us all? If not, playing football is going to help us save lives and change things, then that’s what it needs to be.”<\/p>\n