Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane elected to sit during the national anthem prior to Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Oakland Raiders.
Lane said it was a decision he had mulled over for the last week and was something he elected to do on his own. He said he wanted to show support for 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has made similar gestures as a sign of protest through the preseason.
“I wasn’t trying to say anything, just standing behind Kaepernick,” Lane said after the game, via Gregg Bell of the News Tribune.
Lane has seen some of the backlash thrown at Kaepernick over the last week and understands that he could very likely receive similar criticism for his decision to sit Thursday night.
“Yeah, I am prepared for it,” Lane said. “I don’t mean no disrespect to anybody but I’m just standing behind what I believe in.”
Lane said he doesn’t have a relationship with Kaepernick but likes what he is doing and wanted to stand behind him. When asked if there was any greater intent to his decision to sit, Lane said it was more a matter of supporting Kaepernick.
“It’s something I plan to keep on doing until I feel justice is being served,” Lane said.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said his team has had discussions surrounding the topic with the players. He said that while Lane’s choice was an individual one, that the team has supported the individuals that make up their roster.
“Very interesting issues that we’re dealing with right now,” Carroll said. “Our team has been working at it and we’ve been in the process of communicating about a lot of stuff right now. That was an individual thing, but I’m really proud of the progress that we’re making in the conversation and I look forward to continue it with our guys. It’s really important to us to understand and to be smart about what we’re doing and how we handle out business. We have a great group of guys that lead this team and they’re going to help us as we move forward. I’m very much in support of them and how we handle it. This was an individual statement tonight.”
“The individuals in this program have always been very crucial to us and recognizing them. This is another time. We support our guys.”