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Former NFL cornerback Antonio Cromartie told Bleacher Report's Master Tesfatsion during Untold Stories, that he believes he was cut from the Indianapolis Colts during the 2016 season for kneeling during the national anthem.
Untold Stories Episode 5 with Antonio Cromartie@CRO31 believes he was cut by the Colts in ‘16 for taking a knee during the anthem.
He says he joined @Kaepernick7’s protest against police brutality as head coach Chuck Pagano told players not to kneel.pic.twitter.com/HJQGCB9Zv5
— Master (@MasterTes) October 30, 2019
According to Cromartie, the head coach at the time, Chuck Pagano, told players they were to stand during the anthem. Cromartie pushed back against Pagano and decided to kneel during two games in support of social injustice.
Article Continues Below“It ain't have nothing to do with my age, it ain't have nothing to do with my style of play,” he said. “It was because I took a knee.”
Cromartie said that Pagano stressed to the players once they stepped onto the field that their focus needed to be on playing football. That was something that confused Cromartie given that the team made it a priority to focus on Pagano's battle with leukemia, but were unwilling to allow plays to shed light on other issues.
The first time that Cromartie knelt was during a Week 3 matchup with the San Diego Chargers. He was told before the Week 4 game in London that he couldn't kneel. Cromartie decided to defy that order and was benched at halftime.
After Week 4, Cromartie was released and even though he lost his job, he has no regrets standing up for his beliefs. Even though coaches and front office members say they are tolerable towards all opinions, it's been made clear time and time again that kneeling during the national anthem is not one of them.
