The first Sunday of the NFL season was marked by several anthem protests around the league, but it’s not yet known if Monday night’s Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints matchup will follow suit, given that the contest falls on the 16th anniversary of 9/11.
Continuing the movement started by now-former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the 2016 preseason, several players protested police violence against minorities during the regular-season opener last year, which happened to fall on September 11.
‘There’s a time for everything,’ legendary former Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints coach Mike Ditka told TMZ when asked about Monday’s game on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. ‘Before a football game is not the time or place for it—period.’
The Saints-Vikings game is the only NFL contest being played on Monday, September 11.
San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid, a former teammate of embattled free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, takes a knee before Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers
This year, Ditka hopes to see all of New Orleans and Minnesota’s players on their feet during the anthem.
‘The majority of people are going to understand what 9/11 meant, what this country stands for, the values that we have, and they’re gonna go in that direction,” Ditka said. ‘You can’t stop everybody. There’s always gonna be some malcontents. So let them be malcontents, let them do their thing. They’ll move on. Nobody will think about it. Nobody will remember who they were. The fact that they didn’t stand for the national anthem, that’s their own right to do that. They have a right to do anything. I just disagree with it.’
Neither the Saints nor the Vikings have a history of public protests.
In fact, now-former Vikings guard Alex Boone publicly condemned the protests last season.
‘You have to show some respect, especially in this position that we’re in,’ Boone told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. ‘We’re playing a game for a living. … You see all these pictures of these veterans that have no legs and they’re standing up [from] their wheelchair. … It’s shameful.’
Mike Ditka made a name for himself as the coach of the Chicago Bears in the 1980s before finishing his coaching career with the New Orleans Saints in the 1990s
The first Sunday of the 2016 NFL season fell on September 11 and include a variety of pregame demonstrations, including one in which the Saints and Falcons held hands at midfield
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters raises right fist in protest during the national anthem on September 11, 2016
A year ago, the Saints joined hands with their opponents on September 11, the Atlanta Falcons, and formed a circle around the American flag during the playing of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’
Not all protesting players took a knee last year. Some, like Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, raised a right hand in the air.
Green Bay Packers tight end Martellus Bennett took a similar approach in Sunday’s opener, which is notable given the fact that his brother, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, was on the opposite side of the field and had recently had his own encounter with police.
On Sunday, less than a month after his civil rights were allegedly violated, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett protested police violence by sitting during the national anthem
Michael Bennett’s brother, Martellus (far right, No. 80), raised his fist during the national anthem on Sunday before his Packers hosted Michael’s Seahawks in Green Bay
Michael Bennett, who sat during Sunday’s national anthem in Green Bay, recently accused the Las Vegas Metro Police of profiling him and violating his civil rights while wrongfully apprehending him following last month’s Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. In a note posted on Twitter, Bennett, who was unarmed, says officers pointed their weapons at him and threatened to ‘blow my f****** head off.’
‘Las Vegas police officers singled me out and pointed their guns at me for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ Bennett wrote.
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department announced an investigation into the matter but has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
Some players, such as former Giants defensive end Justin Tuck, have been vocal in their support of police and firemen on 9/11
‘I can tell you as I stand here today, I see no evidence that race played any role in this incident,’ undersheriff Kevin McMahill said during the press briefing on Wednesday.
McMahill acknowledged that Bennett was not armed and confirmed that officers did indeed draw their weapons on Bennett.
Martellus Bennett recently described the experience of learning about the incident over the phone on Instagram: ‘The emotion and the thought of almost losing you [Michael] because of the way you look left me in one of the saddest places ever. I could hear the fear in your voice, the tears in your eyes as well your sprinting heart beat. I can’t imagine how the people who lost their loved ones felt when they got the call. A lot of people feel like it couldn’t happen to them because of status, neighborhood… or whatever, but [in] all honesty YOU could be next.’
On Sunday, Oakland running back Marshawn Lynch was the first to protest, staying seated through the anthem before the Raiders’ win over the Tennessee Titans.
Los Angeles Rams defensive end Robert Quinn raised a right fist in the air during the anthem prior to Sunday’s win over the visiting Indianapolis Colts, and Kaerpernick’s former San Francisco 49ers teammate, Eric Reid, decided to take a knee while current teammates placed their hands on his shoulder pads while remaining standing.
Kaepernick remains unsigned, and some players such as Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers claim it’s because of his outspoken political views.
‘I think he should be on a roster right now,’ Rodgers told ESPN. ‘I think because of his protests, he’s not.’
Seahawks and Dolphins players stand around an outstretched American flag during the national anthem on September 11, 2016.