Patriots to Stand for National Anthem in Next Sunday Game

Members of the Houston Texans kneel before a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on September 24, 2017 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Billie Weiss/Getty Images)

While many players from the New England Patriots kneeled during the national anthem just a week ago, causing widespread backlash from fans, a source has said they will stand together as a team for their next game.

According to CSNNE’s Gary Tanguay, a host and screenwriter for the network, an unnamed source told him of the new development.

“All Patriot players will stand this Sunday during the National Anthem, a league source told me,” Tanguay said in a Sept. 26 tweet.

The Patriots’ next match will be Sunday’s Week 4 contest against the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium.

At last week’s Sunday game on Sept. 24, over a dozen Patriots players chose to kneel during the anthem before their matchup with the Houston Texans. Those players included Devin McCourty, Brandin Cooks, and Duron Harmon, according to CBS-owned 247Sports.

Their taking part in the highly politicized move during the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” drew scorn from many in the audience at the Gillette Stadium. Boos could be heard from the crowd and fans could be heard shouting at the players to stand up, 247Sports reported.

Members of the New England Patriots kneel during the National Anthem before a game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on Sept. 24, 2017. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Players who did not kneel during the game—including Tom Brady, the face of the league—instead interlocked arms with one another while standing.

If the Patriots follow through by standing as a group together next Sunday, it will undoubtedly send a message of unity, and possibly win back many incensed fans.

Former Patriots offensive lineman Matt Light said he was ashamed of his team’s protest.

“If you think that it’s OK to take a knee during our national anthem and disrespect openly the national anthem, you are wrong,” Light told the Boston Herald. “I don’t care if you have a ‘But what about’ or a ‘It’s because of,’ that doesn’t matter.”

Light was the longtime left tackle and blindside defender for Tom Brady. Knowing what a tight ship the Patriots run, he was shocked that a protest was allowed to take place during the anthem.

“Nobody can force anybody to do anything in a situation like that. If he chooses to do it he’s going to do it,” Light said. “But I’m going to tell you this much, with the amount of preparation and attention to detail and all the things that happen in that organization, I’m really surprised that it wasn’t dealt with so it didn’t get to that point.”

The move on Sunday was the first time any player on the New England Patriots team had taken part in the trend during the national anthem.

From NTD.tv