Four days haven’t changed any of Jeremy Lane’s thoughts about sitting during the national anthem.
Four days haven’t changed any of Jeremy Lane’s thoughts about sitting during the national anthem.
The Seahawks cornerback reiterated on Monday that he plans to continue to sit during the anthem for the foreseeable future as he did on Thursday at Oakland, an action he said is designed to show solidarity for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick sat during the national anthem in a game on Aug. 19, saying he was protesting police treatment of African-Americans as well as oppression of people of color.
Lane then sat during the Seahawks-Raiders game Thursday.
Kaepernick and teammate Eric Reid kneeled during the anthem before a game at San Diego last Thursday. But Lane said he plans to continue to sit.
“Just standing behind him (Kaepernick), what he said,” Lane said on Monday. “Just piggybacking what he said, for the justice.”
Lane said Kaepernick reached out to him since Thursday’s game “and just told me thank you for standing behind him.”
Lane said he has gotten no real reaction from teammates, coaches or fans.
He said he has talked to coach Pete Carroll who he said told him only to “be smart.”
As for whether he expects any other Seahawks to follow suit, Lane said “I don’t know. I don’t want to put no pressure on no one. I’m doing it for me.”
Lane reiterated that he doesn’t have any real relationship with Kaepernick but just wants to support the cause.
Lane said he doesn’t plan to expand his actions in any way. “Nope,” he said. “Just continue doing what I’m doing.”
Seattle hosts Miami in the regular season opener Sunday at CenturyLink Field. There was no visible crowd reaction to Lane’s action Thursday in Oakland, with most fans seeming unaware of his action.
Asked if he would expect any different reaction playing at home and now that people aware of his stance, he said “could be. Could be. But we’ll see.”
Kaepernick has said he plans to donate $1 million during the season to charities and groups affected by police brutality and racial inequality.
Lane he said has no similar plans at the moment. “Not saying I won’t, but I haven’t thought about that,” said Lane.
The 26-year-old Lane is from Tyler, Texas and attended Northwestern (La.) State. Asked if he were he grew up was leading to his decision to sit, he said “no.”
Lane is projected as one of Seattle’s cornerbacks this season after signing a four-year contract in the off-season worth $23 million, with $11 million guaranteed.
Seattle teammate Michael Bennett said Monday he supports Lane’s actions.
“I mean I think it’s his right to be able to protest,” Bennett said. “And I think it’s all right. I think there are definitely some issues in America that a lot of people are starting to recognize. I think people have recognized them before but I think with social media and the things that are going out there, the media outlets, everybody has a chance to really show what is going on and their ideas and having a chance to really protest what they think is wrong with America and that’s okay, that’s what it’s about. It’s about people having that right to have their voice and I think it’s cool that Jeremy Lane is doing what he wants to do.”
In the wake of Kaepernick’s initial decision to sit, the NFL released a statement stating that “players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.”
Carroll said after the Oakland game that Lane’s action “was an individual thing. But I am really proud of the progress we are making in the conversation and I look forward to continuing it with our guys. It’s really important for us to understand and to be smart about what we are doing and how we handle our business. And we have, like I have been telling you, we have a great group of guys that lead this team and they are going to help us as we move forward.’’