Matt Light has doubled down.
Protests happened throughout the NFL on Sunday, including on the New England Patriots sideline, just a few days after President Donald Trump went after players who protested during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” And the former Patriots offensive lineman took offense to the protests, as he told the Boston Herald it was “the first time I’ve ever been ashamed to be a Patriot.”
Light, who said he was at the game with a veteran and a widow of a veteran, also appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich,” where he expounded upon why he was ashamed.
“As a country, we face a lot of issues,” he said, as transcribed by CSNNE.com. “We have a lot of things we have to do better. There are mistakes that get made, there’s bad people, there’s a lot of things out there, right? And as an NFL player, as a guy who spent 11 years in that locker room, I know the power that that platform creates … It gives you an amazing ability, if you want to try to help a situation or raise awareness, you can do it.
“But shouldn’t there be some consideration as to how you do it? Shouldn’t we ask of the leaders in that locker room, and the men that represent the Patriot brand, shouldn’t we hold them … accountable for their own actions? And shouldn’t we at least beg of them to consider what it is they’re doing and the impact that it’ll have in the greater community?”
You can hear more from Light’s interview in the video here.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
