New England Patriots Will Reportedly Peacefully Protest During NFL Season

Patriots running back James White is convinced that his teammates will protest during the 2020 NFL season.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out as a team,” he said in a video conference. “I’m not sure exactly what that will be, but I’m sure guys will peacefully protest in some type of form or fashion.”

White and 16 other Patriots players took a knee during the national anthem at the beginning of one game in September 2017. This was their way of supporting former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The players stood on the sideline and locked arms during the national anthem for the rest of the season.

The Patriots will protest again

White was a captain in the past two years. According to him, taking a knee during the national anthem was “difficult” but they “wanted to stand with Kap. Being black people in America, we understood exactly what he was talking about.”

In his final season with the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick took a knee during the pregame national anthem to protest against police brutality and racial inequality.

The death of George Floyd opened the wound even deeper. The African-American died at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty talked about the protest. He believes that the protest will see more support now. In 2017, he was playing with the Cleveland Browns.

“Back in [2017], it was clear as day that they weren’t on board with anything Kap was trying to say and it was more about, ‘Hey, how do we get guys to stand up for the national anthem? How do we get guys to not have fans booing us? How do we get guys to stand up so we don’t lose sponsors?’” he said on “Double Coverage” podcast.  “It was all from a business standpoint.”

“I think everything that has gone on since then will push the envelope. Only time will tell what their actionable reaction will be, as opposed to just words. I think what’s going to be special is that there are going to be a lot of players that are willing to do things and change those words into action.”

New England supports the initiative

The Patriots discussed the tragedy in video conferences. Rahsaan Hall, the director of the racial justice program at the Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union, joined the discussion.

“It was cool to speak with him,” White said. “You educate yourself so the world has a better understanding, so that can we make change in a positive light. It’s not going to change in one day.

“I think everybody is trying to speak out a little bit more, a lot more people being more comfortable letting everybody know how they feel. I think that’s important because some people might not understand that racism and things of that nature still exist, but it does. The color of your skin unfortunately comes with different things in America.

“So just trying to raise people’s awareness, trying to make changes. It’s sad that things like that the George Floyd situation have been going on for year after year and time after time. People have to be held accountable for things like that. Some laws need to be changed. It all starts with a conversation. All these people speaking up is only going to help.”