02 June 2020

NFL’s Peyton Thompson slams the league’s anti racism statement as he recalls being told ‘not to kneel’

Jacksonville Jaguars player Peyton Thompson has hit out at the National Football League’s statement about racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

He added he was told by bosses at Jaguars he was not allowed to kneel during the 2016 National Anthem protests.

Thompson wrote on Twitter: “The statement issued by the @nfl is complete trash.

“I specifically remember [Jaguars executive vice-president] Tom Coughlin and [head coach] Doug Marone telling us we couldn’t kneel. 

"Thank God we had an owner of minority [Shahid Khan] who weighed in and got us to kneel together! My job security was on the line if I supported my people.”

The NFL released a statement on Saturday about racism because of the death of Floyd and the resulting protests surrounding the murder.

They wrote they were saddened by Floyd’s death and mentioned other African Americans, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, who died recently.

However, many have highlighted that teams in the league have effectively exiled San Fransisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick after he took a knee during the national anthem and was vocal about racial inequality.

Another NFL player, Houston Texan’s Kenny Stills, called the statement ’bulls***’.

Floyd died in police custody last Monday. A video released on social media shows a police officer clearly kneeling on his neck for eight minutes.

The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with murder.

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