Players have threatened to quit playing professional football if the NFL institutes a new rule requiring them to stand for the National Anthem. Rishard Matthews, a wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans announced his plans through Twitter before quickly deleting the tweet. His message was captured as a screenshot and re-shared.
Mattew’s tweet came after it was reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is considering a new requirement for players during the national anthem. President Trump encouraged Goodell to take a stand against the protests in a tweet earlier this week,
An official statement from the NFL reported by Fox Businessd says nothing is certain, yet. “Commentary this morning about the Commissioner’s position on the Anthem is not accurate. As we said yesterday, there will be a discussion of these issues at the owners meeting next week. The NFL is doing the hard work trying to move from protest to progress, working to bring people together.”
So far Goodell has simply said that he would prefer everyone to stand for the National Anthem, but he has not yet made anything mandatory.