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NFL Star Rishard Matthews on Anthem: “I Will Kneel Until Trump Apologizes”

HeadlineSep 28, 2017

Back in the U.S., CBS says it will include the playing of the national anthem in its live coverage of tonight’s NFL match between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, as players from both teams are expected to demonstrate during the anthem by linking arms or taking a knee. The planned protests come after President Trump spent most of the last week attacking the racial justice protests led by African-American athletes. Among those joining the protest is Tennessee Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews, whose brother was a U.S. marine who died in Afghanistan. Matthews spoke Tuesday with ESPN.

Rishard Matthews: “I plan to kneel until the president apologizes for the comments that he made, because I felt like those are very disrespectful comments that he made. The league is made up of, I think, either 70 percent or over 75—over 70 percent are African Americans, so the people that would be kneeling for this cause would be African Americans. And to keep it honest, he was calling a lot of us, and I feel that he was calling myself, an SOB. And that’s not OK, very disrespectful.”

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