Several Seahawks players sit, Colts players link arms during national anthem for ‘Sunday Night Football’

Before the Seahawks and Colts took the field for Sunday Night Football, nine Seahawks players remained seated for the national anthem. On the Colts’ sideline, the whole team stood with linked arms.

Last week, in the wake of comments President Donald Trump made against players kneeling during the national anthem, the Seahawks chose to skip the anthem entirely and did not take the field until it was finished. This week, they were on the field for the playing of the anthem. But Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, and the rest of the defensive line sat on the bench and were joined by linebacker Michael Wilhoite. Justin Britt and Oday Aboushi stood next to them to show support, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.

This week, the Seahawks released a statement inviting fans to join them to “create lasting change and build a more compassionate and inclusive society” through the team’s new Seahawks Players’ Equality and Justice for All Fund.

Pete Carroll said this week that more empathy is needed in the discussion about protests during the national anthem.

“We are talking about what’s happening on the other side of the world and what’s going on around us to try to share that experience, so others can come to understand: ‘Oh, that’s why you are protesting. That’s why you’ve been talking about this for hundreds of years,’” Carroll said via the team’s website. “And we hear it and know it loud and clear and we have great respect for what everyone goes through, because of that.”

The Colts all stood together with their arms locked.

In Week 3, some Colts players kneeled, and others linked arms during the anthem. The Colts shared a statement Sunday saying that players would individually decide what they want to do during the national anthem and the team will support them.

“Our intention was to raise awareness and continue critical conversations about real equality, the injustices against black and brown people, police brutality, respect, unity, and equal opportunity,” the statement read. “Our players are hurting, our people are hurting, our neighborhoods are hurting, and kneeling was a direct response to that hurt.”

When the Colts took the field for warmups, players wore shirts that reflected that sentiment.

Trump spurred the league to action when he referred to any player who kneels during the anthem as a “son of a bitch” and suggested owners should fire those players on the spot. The Colts and Seahawks joined several other teams that continued demonstrations during the national anthem on Sunday.