The Seattle Seahawks are planning on expanding cornerback Jeremy Lane’s silent protest of the U.S. national anthem. Lane protested the anthem this preseason in support of Colin Kaepernick’s protest against the oppression of minorities. His Seahawks teammates may join him during Week 1’s matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, saying the team was going to protest together to send a message of unity.
“Anything that we want to do, it’s not going to be individual,” Wagner said ahead of practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “It’s going to be a team thing because that’s what the world needs to see. The world needs to see people coming together versus being individuals.”
Wide receiver Doug Baldwin is also considering joining Lane. He told the Seattle Times the team doesn’t all agree with each other about the issue, but the diverse locker room brings many ideas, because, in the end, they’re all human beings.
“It’s different in our locker room,” Baldwin said. “We kind of give each other a lot of slack, so whatever decisions you make, we understand we are all human beings. Some of us might not agree, some of us will agree. But at the same time we give each other slack because we know we are all human beings.”
A tweet from Baldwin on Thursday didn’t provide any answers as to what exactly would be happening.
https://twitter.com/DougBaldwinJr/status/773969821360754688
Head coach Pete Carroll said he understand what Lane was trying to express and thinks he recognizes the responsibilities he takes on by protesting.
“We’ve talked some about it,” Carroll said. “He’s pretty clear what he did and what he was trying to express. I think it’s very simple, so we’ll leave that up to him. But he’s understanding the responsibility of it, I think, and shouldering it.”
The exact number of Seahawks players who will protest next week is currently unknown, but the team will likely make the biggest public stand thus far. It’s a bold effort from the Seahawks.
