New York Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon was the only NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in a Thanksgiving game Thursday.
Vernon took a knee right before his team took on the Washington Redskins in the Thursday night game. No other players demonstrated during the anthem.
Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon kneels on Thanksgiving night. Vernon's father is a retired police officer, and he's been kneeling for the anthem since Trump's comments in September. pic.twitter.com/zxrepNbg1W
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) November 24, 2017
It also appears no players kneeled during the day’s two previous games, which saw the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Chargers win against the Dallas Cowboys.
Vernon has been protesting during the national anthem ever since September when President Trump stirred up outrage by arguing that any player who kneels should be fired. Several players joined in anthem protests following the president’s comments, but the number of players who have continued to do so has dropped significantly throughout the season. (RELATED: Trump Wins When The NFL Takes A Knee)
Vernon, whose father was a Miami police officer for 25 years, is one of the few remaining players to continue protesting the anthem.
“What it would take for me to stand is if people can understand what the whole message is behind it,” Vernon told Newsday recently on why he continues to protest. “That would actually help a whole lot, but everybody doesn’t see things that way and tries to distort what the message was from the beginning, which is basically social injustice on African-Americans and police brutality.”
