Malcolm Jenkins won’t raise fist during national anthem after Players Coalition deal with NFL

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins will not be raising his fist during the national anthem on Sunday prior to their game against the Seahawks. Jenkins has been raising his hand to protest police brutality and oppression against people of color since last season.

Jenkins’ decision is a result of the NFL and Players Coalition joining in a partnership in which the NFL will contribute $89 million over the next seven years to projects “dealing with criminal justice reform, law enforcement/community relations and education,” according to ESPN’s Tim McManus.

Jenkins explained that he felt the partnership is going to be the proper awareness to where he wouldn’t need to demonstrate.

“I think what the league is proposing is a platform and a campaign similar to what they’ve done with Breast Cancer Awareness, My Cause, My Cleats, Salute to Service, but hopefully in an even bigger manner,” he said.

Jenkins added, “And if we’re able to amplify our voices to showcase those causes, those issues, to highlight grass-roots organizations who are doing the work and need support, to tell the stories of those people who have been wronged or left out, I think that’s even more valuable than the cash amount. So hopefully, in good faith, that gets built out.”

He mentioned that the decision applies to Week 13’s game, and that he hopes he doesn’t have to demonstrate again.

“All of this really is in good faith,” he said. “And I think if the league continues to come through or deliver on their word, then I see no need to go back to what I was doing.”

Jenkins would later add that the partnership doesn’t mandate an end to protests:

On Tuesday, 49ers safety Eric Reid, Chargers tackle Russell Okung, and Dolphins safety Michael Thomas all announced they had withdrawn from the Players Coalition.

Reid said that Colin Kaepernick had been kicked out, and that Jenkins left him and Thomas out of the discussion with the NFL. Kaepernick did not attend the group’s first meeting with the NFL, but was later invited to a second meeting after having filed his collusion grievance against the NFL under the collective bargaining agreement in mid-October. Reid also didn’t approve of how it was being run.

Jenkins chimed in on Reid’s claim, via ESPN:

”They understood the entire scope of the plan. The last time we had conversations with (Roger) Goodell and Troy Vincent, Michael Thomas and Eric Reid were on that call. They understood the proposal. What we didn’t have was a conversation with players in the coalition based on some of the responses that we got from the league. We then talked about myself contracting Troy Vincent just to give them some updates on some of our feedback, which I did. That call did not have Mike or Eric on it. Everybody kind of agreed to that.”

Jenkins also denied kicking Kaepernick out of the group. He said that Kaepenrick’s relationship within the group was always informal, at Kaepernick’s preference.

With the Eagles playing the Seahawks on Sunday, we’ll have to wait and see whether the results of the partnership between the NFL and the Players Coalition will be enough for Michael Bennett to stand.

Bennett has been sitting for the national anthem the entire season, minus two games to honor the military.