The Seattle Seahawks are considering following San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s lead in planning a protest for the national anthem before Sunday’s game, The Seattle Times reported.
The rumored protest would not come as a complete surprise. Seahawks defensive back Jeremy Lane sat during the national anthem before the Seahawks’ game last week against the Oakland Raiders.
Once rumblings of a protest began, wide receiver Doug Baldwin told The Seattle Times that he was mulling joining Lane for another protest during the anthem this week and that players had been discussing it in the locker room.
“I have [considered it],” Baldwin told the paper. “I want to make sure I get all of my ducks in a row before I do so.’’
Baldwin also tweeted this statement Thursday, leading many to believe he would make some kind of statement rather than a protest:
To express a desire to bring people together, our team will honor the country and flag in a pregame demonstration of unity.
— Doug Baldwin Jr (@DougBaldwinJr) September 8, 2016
When the newspaper asked linebacker Bobby Wagner about the rumors, he said that any protest would be carried out as a team, and that it would be a “surprise.”
“Anything we want to do, it’s not going to be individual,” he told the Times. “It’s going to be a team thing. That’s what the world needs to see. The world needs to see people coming together versus being individuals.”
One touchy factor of the potential protest is the date of the game: Sept. 11. Baldwin told The Seattle Times that the team understands the significance of that date, and said that it makes the gesture all the more important.
“I think that anybody should be thinking about that,” he said. “Even if it wasn’t September 11 the point of the protest is to get people to think. I think it’s very ironic to me that 15 years ago on Sept.11 was one of the most devastating times in U.S. history and after that day we were probably the most unified that we have ever been. And today we struggle to see the unity. And it’s very ironic to me that this date is coming up. So it’s going to be a special day, a very significant day, but at the same time I am looking forward to the may changes and differences, the changes we can make in this country to make better changes in our country.”
