After warning Colin Kaepernick to keep quiet about social activism earlier this year, former Ravens great Ray Lewis knelt during the playing of the national anthem Sunday with current members of the team.
Lewis said Tuesday his decision to kneel on both knees was to "simply honor God in the midst of chaos." He was criticized for the anthem demonstration by both Kaepernick supporters and those who believe Lewis and the Ravens were disrespecting the flag.
The latter launched a petition Sunday to remove Lewis' statue from M&T Bank Stadium, saying on Change.org that kneeling during the anthem is "disrespectful, regardless of what you are protesting."
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The petition addressed to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti has received more than 25,000 signatures as of Tuesday night.
“I took two knees because I have a first amendment right just like everybody else. And when I came out of that locker room, I had choice to make,” Lewis told 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore.
“And look at my fellow players and I looked at these young guys. I’m not in the protesting business, I’m not into this, whatever [Donald] Trump wanna say. I’m not into that mess, but if these young boys doing what they doing, then I got to meet them where they are.”
President Trump created quite a stir in the NFL by calling any player who kneels during the national anthem a "son of a bitch" and calling for owners to "fire" those players.
NFL teams responded with a massive display of solidarity Sunday and Monday as players, coaches and owners all locked arms during the anthem to relay a message to Trump that they will not be divided.
“I’m not in the league anymore, so the Trump comments don’t bother me, but they’re so out of order,” said Lewis, a 13-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl MVP who played his entire career with the Ravens.
“You’re just talking about kids, you’re talking about the kids who got mothers, mothers who sacrificed everything and families who sacrificed everything, and now you don’t give us no platform to say nothing on — it just baffles me that he would come out and say something like that.”