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New York Giants co-owner John Mara expressed his support for players who choose to kneel during the national anthem despite being against the idea.
Mara made the comments in remarks to reporters Thursday, according to Giants Wire.
“My preference is that everybody stand, but if you decide in your conscience that taking a knee is the right thing to do, I’m going to support your right to do that because I believe in the First Amendment,” said Mara, who is also the team’s CEO and president.
“I’ll support any players’ right to engage in silent protest. What makes it easy for me to do that is when I see how much work they’re [Giants players] doing in the community and how important what is going on right now in this country is to each of them, and they back it up with actions, not just words.”
Mara backed the idea of getting players in front of local elected officials and talk about making changes in the community.
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Mara had firmly been against players kneeling during the anthem in the years after Colin Kaepernick began his protest to raise awareness about racial injustice and police brutality.
When the NFL gave teams the right to discipline players who are out on the field and don’t stand, Mara said that standing was the “right thing” to do.
“We’ve been supportive of those in the past who have decided to protest, but I think we’ve gotten to a point now where it’s become such a divisive issue that I think it’s important that we come out of here with a policy that everybody can respect and adhere to,” he said during an interview on SiriusXM Radio in 2018.
“It’s an issue that is very divisive, [for] people on both sides of it. And you have to take the players’ feelings and views into account, as well. So we’re hopeful of coming out of this with some sort of policy that works,” he said, adding that he hoped players would stand for the anthem.
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In 2017, Mara said in a Monday Morning Quarterback column that he heard from fans and that many were willing to pull their season tickets over the anthem issue.
Players, however, have said adamantly that kneeling during the anthem has nothing to do with the flag or the military. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has backed players in their efforts to demonstrate.
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