San Francisco Giants pitcher Sam Coonrod refused to kneel during the national anthem Thursday night against the Dodgers.
According to NBC Sports, members of the Giants took a knee during the national anthem, and Coonrod didn’t join them. Every member of both teams also kneeled before the anthem. The pitcher also didn’t participate in that action. The reason why? His Christian faith. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Sam Coonrod really out here standing lmfao pic.twitter.com/HzYXkRbOyy
— shanahanSZN ???? (@ShanahanSZN) July 24, 2020
“I’m a Christian, like I said, and I just can’t get on board with a couple of things that I have read about Black Lives Matter. How they lean toward Marxism and they’ve said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that,” Coonrod explained to the media, according to the same NBC Sports report.
He also said that he “can’t kneel before anything besides God.”
“I’m a Christian, like I said, and I just can’t get on board with a couple of things that I have read about Black Lives Matter.”
Sam Coonrod explains why he didn’t kneel during the Giants-Dodgers pregame moment of unity (via @PavlovicNBCS) https://t.co/7QI9fgjvvn pic.twitter.com/EZQgd8ZBho
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 24, 2020
Honestly, this takes a hell of a lot of bravery on the part of Coonrod. No matter what you think about the national anthem debate, choosing to stand for your beliefs and doing it alone requires a lot of courage.
Every single player took a knee before the anthem and many didn’t stand while it was played. Coonrod didn’t take a knee for either.
In 2020, I can’t think of many more courageous acts in the arena of sports than standing by your beliefs and doing it by yourself.
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It’s worth noting, that every single player on the Yankees and Nationals also took a knee prior to the anthem Thursday night.
It wasn’t at all an isolated incident.
Players from both teams kneel together in unity before tonight’s National Anthem. #OpeningDay #NYYforNY pic.twitter.com/ptW2FgfzUe
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 23, 2020
Let us know what you think of Coonrod’s actions in the comments.