An airport in Minnesota has spoken out about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, while discussing flight traffic for the upcoming Super Bowl.
Commissioners of the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport voiced their concerns about the kneelers during a Thursday meeting, while discussing contingency plans for Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis.
The regional airport may be asked to handle diverted air traffic from the big game in February in the event of bad weather.
The commissioners considered a proposal to formally protest any flights unless the NFL enforced rules requiring players to stand for the anthem, though the proposal did not pass, the Brainerd Dispatch reported.
An airport in Minnesota has spoken out about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, while discussing flight traffic for the upcoming Super Bowl
Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport Jeff Czeczok put forward a proposal to protest diverted flights from the Super Bowl if the NFL did not make players stand for the anthem
Five of the airport’s six commissioners voiced their concern about the kneeling protests, though.
‘I just would like to remind the people sitting at this table that, you know, we have a national organization that has team members kneeling down during our national anthem,’ said Commission member Jeff Czeczok, who put forward the motion.
The airport is 130 miles northwest of Minneapolis
Commission member Marty Johnson said he agreed with Czeczok and he doesn’t have a problem with protesting, just not during the national anthem.
‘You can protest all you want, but that’s not the time, nor the place,’ Johnson said.
Colin Kaepernick, who began keeling during the anthem last year while a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was coy on Sunday about whether he would stand for the anthem in the future if he is ever signed by another team.
CBS NFL insider Jason La Canfora mentioned that Kaepernick would stand during the national anthem while appearing on the television network to discuss an off-camera chat he had with the 29-year-old athlete.
He later clarified that he was referring to previous reports that the athlete would stand, not personal insight from his conversation with Kaepernick.
‘The reports that Colin will stand for the anthem are completely false! He has never discussed this with anyone,’ Nessa Diab wrote on Twitter Sunday night
In response, Kaepernick’s girlfriend, whom many suspect was behind his protest in the first place, took to Twitter with a furious denial that he would stand for the anthem in the future.
‘The reports that Colin will stand for the anthem are completely false! He has never discussed this with anyone,’ Nessa Diab wrote on Twitter Sunday night.
The 33-year-old radio personality has been dating Kaepernick since 2015, and has stood behind his decision to kneel during the anthem in the past.
Super Bowl LII will be played in Minneapolis’ US Bank Stadium on February 4.
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s girlfriend has now come out to adamantly deny reports that said he would stand during the national anthem if given a chance to play in the NFL again. The two are pictured together in April at the Time 100 Gala