Racial Slur Used Against Detroit Lions' Fan Who Sat During National Anthem

DETROIT, MI — When Detroit Lions season ticket holder Stacey Graham attended Sunday’s season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, being featured in a racially-charged SnapChat photo probably wasn’t in her game plan. But when she and a male companion sat through the national anthem, that’s exactly what happened, according to a WXYZ-TV report.

Another fan, whom WXYZ-TV reported as being David Doptis, took a picture of Graham and posted it to the social media site with a rather nasty remark.

“you wanna sit down for the national anthem? You don’t like our country then get the (expletive) outtt.” A racial slur was also written on top of the photo, WXYZ-TV reported. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, and click here to find your local Michigan Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Doptis denied making the post, WJBK-TV reported. The television station interviewed Graham about the incident Monday. She said whoever made the post was entitled to their opinion, but they probably should have limited the it to, “'He wishes we would've stood’ and I would’ve been like ‘OK,'” Graham said, “but to write that under our picture … no words.”

Sitting or kneeling during the national anthem has been a hot-button issue for the NFL. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the anthem last season, drawing ire from some fans and praise from others. Kaepernick has yet to find a NFL job this season.

Graham told WJBK-TV she sits during the anthem because she says the lyrics in the third stanza talk about killing self-emancipated slaves. Still, she’s hoping for a little more unity in Metro Detroit and across America.

“We gotta build our country back together,” she told the television station. “We gotta come together.”

Photo by Dave Reginek / Stringer / Getty Images Sports / Getty Images