Many NFL players will likely kneel during the national anthem in 2020 to continue raising awareness for societal and racial injustices in America. For some, it will be a personal choice. For others, like Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley, it might be a team choice.
Mosley knelt alongside players with the Ravens and the Jaguars before a 2017 game in the wake of President Donald Trump’s incendiary comments on the subject, but he said he isn’t sure if he’ll kneel in 2020. He would like the decision to protest by kneeling to be a group choice decided in a players-only meeting rather than an individual one.
“That’s something we [as Jets] have to do because it’s going to come up again. Some guys are definitely going to kneel again. Some guys won’t,” he said, according to ESPN. “I feel that as a team, as a leader, I need to talk to my teammates first and talk to coach [Adam] Gase and talk to the owner.”
The fight against police brutality and systemic racism continues to be one of the most important issues in the NFL – and the world – this year. Some of the most popular NFL players, including Jets safety Jamal Adams, vocalized their concerns on social media, took to the streets with protesters and sent a video to commissioner Roger Goodell asking him to condemn racism and say “Black Lives Matter.” Athletes from across the sports world even signed a petition urging Congress to pass a bill to eliminate qualified immunity for police.
Mosley hopes the increased activism among players will open up better communication between the front office and the locker room. He wants the dialogue to be help move the NFL through trying times, something it failed to do when Colin Kaepernick and other players first knelt during the anthem in 2016 and 2017.
“I hope the NFL and the owners can look back at that situation [in 2017] and make sure they handle it the right way,” Mosley said. “I would think the NFL and the owners and the coaches would have our backs 100 percent for support. We have to have that conversation to see where everybody’s mindset is.”
That process has already started. Goodell released a video apologizing for not listening to players who brought up the problems being protested in 2016 and said he encouraged them to keep peacefully protesting as well. Jets CEO Christopher Johnson recently gave his cell phone number to every player on the team and joined a players’ video conference to talk about the issues at hand in the hopes of opening up that line of communication.