Before his first game playing for the Carolina Panthers, Eric Reid took a knee during the playing of the national anthem.
Asked about what his new player had done before their game against the Giants, Carolina coach Ron Rivera said he had “no issue” with Reid’s decision to take a knee.
“The biggest reason it’s not an issue to me is I believe in the First Amendment,” Rivera said. “And that’s all he did was exercise his First Amendment. As far as I’m concerned, he’s an American citizen entitled to exercise his rights.”
Reid, who signed a one-year contract with the team a few weeks ago, informed Rivera he would be kneeling before he did it, but only as a courtesy, not to ask permission.
“We’ve made baby steps, but people try to give crumbs and present them as cakes,” Reid said after kneeling last week. “So you can come at me with all the hate you want, but it doesn’t change the fact of the truth. I’ve always been considering what’s best for the movement. I’ve always told myself when the time comes to stop kneeling that I’ll stop – that time has not come.”
It seems likely Reid will kneel again on Sunday when the Panthers visit Washington to take on the Redskins.
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