Marshawn Lynch stirred the national anthem protest pot on Sunday by only standing for the Mexican anthem.
If there’s one thing Marshawn Lynch definitely doesn’t care about, it’s your opinion of him. There isn’t a better candidate to become the new leader of silent protests across the NFL.
Since the preseason, when he returned from his retirement (see also: sabbatical) from the NFL, Lynch has become the face of employed division of Colin Kaepernick’s protest movement. It hasn’t soured his relationship with the league the way it did for Kaepernick but it has managed to piss off just as many people.
Lynch sat for the national anthem and stood for the Mexican anthem before Sunday’s game in Mexico City.
Marshawn Lynch sits during the US national anthem, stands for Mexican anyhem pic.twitter.com/8wdaKprEki
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) November 19, 2017
In the most stunning turn of events, people on Twitter actually united in seeing Lynch’s message and praise him for making this decision. There was no mention of Lynch needing to stay in Mexico if he likes that anthem better, and no one took a shot at him as a person.
Jk. People reacted exactly how you imagined them reacting as soon as you saw that picture.
Marshawn Lynch would be in jail if it weren’t for football. He should be grateful he lives in a country where he can play a child’s game for millions of dollars.
— Poverty Sucks (@5tayTheK1ng) November 19, 2017
Marshawn Lynch should stay in Mexico!
— Jacob (@jldemj7) November 19, 2017
Lynch has protested during the national anthem since he returned to the league. He hasn’t backed down and has refused to partake in any of the charades that have popped up in response to the protests. Instead, he has remained steadfast in his mission and continues to find new ways to remind people that the protests are still a thing.
Next: NFL Power Rankings: 30 Best Coaches of All-Time
It’s easy to see where people predisposed to have a problem with the protest found justification in foaming at the mouth over this. This is a situation, however, where Lynch might want to speak about his protest afterward. Mexico doesn’t exactly have the cleanest bill of health with it comes to poverty and the treatment of its people. It’s easy to lose this in translation, with people thinking the protest is about a flag and a song when it’s actually about the protesting of how American minorities are treated. There’s no reason for Lynch to protest the Mexican anthem.
Lynch has an opportunity to be clear about the anthem protests and what they mean stateside and explain it.