Princeton alum Seth DeValve becomes first white player to kneel for the national anthem
‘We wanted to draw attention to the fact there are things in this country that still need to change’
Princeton alum and Cleveland Browns tight end Seth DeValve became the first white player to kneel for the national anthem last night.
As the anthem started to play, almost a dozen Browns players knelt in prayer – making it the largest protest by a single team since Colin Kaepernick began demonstrating last year.
Explaining why he joined in, DeValve told reporters he loves America and wanted to draw attention to its lack of equal opportunities.
He said:
"It saddens me that in 2017 we have to do something like that. I personally would like to say I love this country, I love our national anthem. I'm very grateful to the men and women who have given their lives and give a lot every day to protect this country and to serve this country, and I want to honor them as much as I can. The United States is the greatest country in the world and it is because it provides opportunities to its citizens that no other country does. The issue is it doesn't provide equal opportunity to everybody. I wanted to support my African American teammates today who wanted to take a knee. We wanted to draw attention to the fact there are things in this country that still need to change. I myself will be raising children who don't look like me. I want to do my part as well to do everything I can to raise them in a better environment than we have right now. I wanted to take the opportunity with my teammates during the anthem to pray for our country and to draw attention to the fact we have work to do. And that's why I did what I did."