Representatives of the NFLPA will join the league’s owners in New York next week to discuss players’ national anthem protests. But Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall stands convinced NFL owners don’t want to hear from players.
“I don’t think they want us to be a part of it, though,” Marshall said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN. “The NFLPA could bring the players in, but I doubt the owners want the players in. . . . We have a voice, and sometimes it could be to the detriment of what they’re trying to get accomplished. If we get in [the meetings] and start speaking, start doing this, it would be too much effort, too many arguments. I don’t know. Our agenda is not what their agenda is. Their agenda is business, continue to make money. . . . That’s their agenda. Our agenda is we love to play; we love to play; we want to get paid, but at the same time, if we have a platform and we have a voice, and we feel strongly about something, we want to use that. Being honest, they don’t care about that.’'
Marshall knelt during the national anthem seven times last season to protest social inequalities. Broncos players decided after their Week 3 protest in Buffalo they would stand as a team, and Marshall has stood alongside his teammates since.
Owners could discuss an NFL mandate requiring players to stand during the anthem.
Marshall said players’ protests make owners “uncomfortable.”
“It’s just a money thing,” Marshall said, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post. “They don’t want to lose sponsorships, potentially lose money from TV ads. I don’t know. The military, all of that. That’s really what it is. They’re trying to protect their business, which is one thing I do understand.”
