Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray announced Wednesday that he will be one of the NFL players taking a knee during the anthem in 2020.
In a wide-ranging media session on Zoom Wednesday, Murray opened up about the death of George Floyd, and the protests.
Kyler Murray: ‘I’ll be kneeling’
Murray said he doesn’t condone the riots that have happened but praised the peaceful protests.
He also commented on how things have changed since the death of George Floyd while in the custody of police in Minneapolis on May 25.
He also said “I’m confident in my generation to fix this” and declared, “Yeah, I’ll be kneeling” during the anthem this year.
NFL players expected to protest en masse
Murray, who was the first overall pick last year and won Offensive Rookie of the Year, isn’t the only high-profile NFL star to say he’ll take a knee during the anthem this coming season.
Russell Wilson, Baker Mayfield and Adrian Peterson are just a few who have declared they also will take a knee. It’s expected to be a widespread movement.
“Just four years ago, you’re seeing Kaepernick taking a knee, and now we’re all getting ready to take a knee together going into this season, without a doubt,” Peterson told the Houston Chronicle recently.
When Colin Kaepernick began protesting in 2016, just a small number of his peers joined him. Then, Kaepernick was effectively blackballed from the NFL.
Only recently in the past week or so has the NFL changed its tune publicly about him, and about Black Lives Matter.
With the league putting itself behind the players on this issue, fans should get used to the idea that many players will take a knee before games this coming season.