Players on the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons joined the national anthem protest Monday night by holding hands in a circle on the field after the anthem concluded.
According to ESPN, Saints coach Sean Payton reached out to Falcons coach Dan Quinn with the idea earlier in the week and both teams liked it. Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan planned to have both teams form a circle and hold hands in thought and prayer after the national anthem. The move was inspired by the recent police shootings in Charlotte, North Carolina and Tulsa, Oklahoma. A number of players had been feeling pressure to join the cause but didn’t want to do it at the expense of their team a source told ESPN’s Lisa Salter.
“I support Kaepernick and all the other guys — their cause and what they’re standing up for,” Saints running back Mark Ingram told Josh Katzenstain of NOLA.com. “But it’s unfortunate that people are taking it the wrong way, and it was just causing division when we’re trying to create unity. Coach Payton asked a few of us what we thought of the idea. He asked [Falcons coach] Dan Quinn about the idea, and they were all for it [and] we were all for it. I think that’s awesome. I think that’s a strong statement.”
Falcons tight end Jacob Tamme issued a statement on Twitter after the game saying the pregame gesture of unity was what they wanted to show.
National anthem protests have made headlines ever since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started his protest in the preseason.