NFL commissioner Roger Goodell invited a large group of players and owners to league headquarters in New York on Tuesday for a “summit” to discuss national anthem protests, according to multiple reports Thursday.
According to ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan and Dan Duggan of NJ Advance Media, the list of attendees included New England Patriots co-captains Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater, team owner Robert Kraft and former Patriots Chris Long and Jonathan Casillas.
“We were basically talking about what we’re going to do to move forward and how we’re going to approach the whole kneeling situation,” Casillas, now with the New York Giants, said Thursday, per Duggan. “It was a whole bunch of opinions shared. There was nothing we decided we’re going to do collectively. I think it was a very conducive meeting.”
Casillas added:Â “Goodell wasn’t really saying too much. He was kind of letting the owners and us talk more than anything. I know the owners, for sure, don’t want us kneeling. Not because of what the message is. It’s the message that’s getting across. People are totally misconstruing the kneeling thing, from the beginning.”
Scores of players around the NFL knelt during the national anthem Sunday in the wake of explosive comments made by President Donald Trump two days earlier. Trump criticized players who protested during the anthem, calling them “sons of (expletives)” and saying they should be “fired.” He proceeded to double down on those statements in several tweets over the weekend.
More than a dozen Patriots players, including McCourty, knelt before their game against the Houston Texans, while others locked arms. The team intends to stand for the anthem before this Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers, according to wide receiver Danny Amendola.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
