Titans To Back Players Who Stay Inside For National Anthem

NASHVILLE, TN -- New Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel told his roster that any player who opts to stay in the locker room during the national anthem has the full support of the organization.

At his Wednesday press conference, Vrabel said he addressed the NFL's new anthem policy, which allows players to stay inside during the playing of the anthem but requires them to stand if on the field. A fine will be levied against the team for players who do not comply and the team can address the protest however it sees fit.

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"I wanted to make sure that everybody understood the policy that just came out, so as coaches and players and everybody in our organization, we’re fully aware of what the policy is. With that being said, we’re also fully aware that we have Miss Amy's (controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk) and the entire organization’s support to make a decision based on that policy,” Vrabel said.

No Titan has ever knelt during the anthem, though wide receiver Rishard Matthews, whose father served in the Marine Corps for 21 years and whose brother was killed in Afghanistan, opted to remain in the locker room last season after President Donald Trump called protesting players "son of a b----" at a rally in Alabama, a tirade which prompted Adams Strunk, who donated to Trump's campaign, to issue a statement supporting her players.

Matthews, who wears a bracelet with the Marines' Globe and Anchor to honor his brother, was, coincidentally, a teammate for Colin Kaepernick, the then-San Francisco 49ers' quarterback who started the kneeling protest as a way to highlight racial inequality and police brutality. Critics of the protest, including Trump, have said kneeling dishonors the military and the anthem itself, though Matthews called that a "distraction." In a now-retracted statement, Matthews once said he'd quit playing football if the league required players to stand.

A number of other Titans players, including defensive lineman Jurrell Casey, have stood for the anthem but raised the clinched fist of the Black Power movement once it concludes. Anthem singer Megan Lindsey and her accompanist took a knee after singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the Sept. 24 game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Photo by Shaban Athuman/Getty Images