Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien is making his stance on kneeling during the national anthem very clear: He plans on doing so this season.
As the country continues to deal with racial inequality in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, O’Brien is taking a hard stance on the kneeling topic that has swept the NFL since 2016.
Via John McClain of The Houston Chronicle:
“Yeah, I’ll take a knee — I’m all for it,” O’Brien said about players kneeling. “The players have a right to protest, a right to be heard and a right to be who they are. They’re not taking a knee because they’re against our flag. They’re taking a knee because they haven’t been treated equally in this country for over 400 years.”
The stance from O’Brien is noteworthy due to the NFL’s unfavorable opinion of kneeling over the last few years. However, it appears the league is changing course, with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell even admitting the league was wrong for its stance on kneeling.
Kneeling during the national anthem was first done by then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick four years ago. At the time, it sparked controversy, especially when numerous other NFL players began following suit. However, given recent events, more and more people are starting to become more open to the idea of peacefully protesting during the anthem. It seems likely that we will see considerably more players, coaches and the like kneeling in 2020.
Hopefully we will see more people in head coaching and ownership positions take the stance that O’Brien has gone public with.
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