Week 3 is going to be an interesting one, and it looks like the Oakland Raiders will be ending a busy Sunday in primetime by coming together as a group for a protest.
After Donald Trump used the bully pulpit in Alabama to blast any NFL player who protests as a “son of a b***h” who needs to be fired, there is a growing belief that we will see mass protests across the league.
The Oakland Raiders offensive line will reportedly be among them.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Raiders offensive line plans to come together as a group to kneel or sit during the national anthem in protest of the racial inequality and social injustice in the country.
This will be powerful: #Raiders offensive line, the only all African-American unit in @NFL, plans to sit or kneel together during the anthem
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 24, 2017
As Rapoport noted, the Raiders starting offensive line — Left tackle Donald Penn, left guard Kelechi Osemele, center Rodney Hudson, right guard Gabe Jackson and right tackle Marshall Newhouse — is the only all African-American group in the NFL.
And, they have the highest pass blocking efficiency two weeks into the season.
There is the Raiders OL. Then there is everyone else. pic.twitter.com/AIF8b4E79Y
— PFF (@PFF) September 23, 2017
The Raiders take on Washington in the Sunday Night Football game on NBC, so there will likely be a number of other protests before they take the field together. The only question is: how will the president respond this time? Because personally attacking the players hasn’t worked out well for him so far.
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