If you’re one of the 23 players on the World Cup of Hockey Team USA roster, head coach John Tortorella has one message he’s making crystal clear to you: you sit for the anthem, you’re sitting for the game.
Of course, this topic arises from one source and one source only: Colin Kaepernick.
Following Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem Aug. 26, citing the “oppress[ion] of black people and people of color,” other athletes have followed suit, some for slightly different reasons.
USWNT star Megan Rapinoe kneeled during the anthem Sept. 4 as a “nod to Kaepernick” and in hopes of keeping the conversation going, while Kaepernick’s NFL peers — Seattle Seahawks defensive back Jeremy Lane and teammate Eric Reid — also joined him in making a statement.
When asked by ESPN’s Linda Cohn about Kaepernick’s protest, Tortorella said, “If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game.
Straightforward from the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach, whose Team USA gets its first action against Team Canada on Sept. 9.
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