Written by John Breech at CBS Sports.com
Less than a week after Browns coach Hue Jackson mentioned that he didn’t necessarily want to see his players protesting during the national anthem, the Browns responded by holding the NFL’s largest protest since Colin Kaepernick started kneeling in August 2016.
Nearly a dozen players went to their knee during the national anthem before Cleveland’s game against the Giants on Monday. According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson, Jabrill Peppers, Christian Kirksey, Seth DeValve, Jamie Collins, Kenny Britt, Ricardo Louis and Jamar Taylor were among the players who kneeled during the anthem.
Woah. A ton of Browns kneeling during the national anthem here pic.twitter.com/Qv6qSPs6kX
— Jordan Zirm (@clevezirm) August 22, 2017
The inclusion of DeValve is notable because it makes him the first white player to kneel during the anthem. DeValve’s inclusion in the Browns’ protest comes in the same week that Chris Long and Justin Britt symbolically joined protests by holding on to the shoulder of their teammates and Derek Carr made a point of putting his arm around Khalil Mack during the anthem.
As for the Browns, there were several players who didn’t kneel for the anthem, but did show support for the protest by placing their arms on their teammates. Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, Shon Coleman, Britton Colquitt, Jason McCourty and Marcus Martin were all among the group who showed their support while standing.
At halftime of the game, the Browns organization released a statement about the protest.
“As an organization, we have a profound respect for our country’s National Anthem, flag and the servicemen and servicewomen in the United States and abroad,” the teams said. “We feel it’s important for our team to join in this great tradition and special moment of recognition.”
Although the team didn’t seem too happy about the protest, the organization did say that it would respect every player’s decision.
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