EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Four days after a group of NFL owners met with a group of players to discuss protests during the national anthem , Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett and at least nine of his Seattle teammates sat or kneeled on the sideline during the anthem before the Seahawks' 24-7 win over the Giants at MetLife Stadum on Sunday.
Bennett, who did not attend or call into last week's meeting in New York, has sat during the anthem during each of the Seahawks' six games this season.
"People just have conversations every day because racism and discrimination is a common topic in America, so a lot of people just talk about it," Bennett said. "The NFL is just making it another conversation where everybody is at home and wondering what they can do to affect the nation and find a way to have a positive impact on their communities. That’s what we’re focusing on right now."
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Bennett told reporters after the owners-players meeting ( according to Pro Football Talk ) that negotiations on the national anthem should take place only after a team signs free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the first player to stage protests. Bennett reiterated Sunday that Kaepernick is due another opportunity to play in the NFL.
"Obviously he’s had an impact in the country," Bennett said. "You see where he started, taking a knee, and how he’s affecting the communities from the young children to even older Americans, finding a way to find an impact. If this conversation is happening with the commissioner, and happening with our employers, his job situation should be brought up and it should have some kind of resolution to finding something for him to do with that impact."
Bennett's support for Kaepernick was obvious throughout his postgame remarks.
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"For me, it’s about you never want to leave a person behind, and that’s just the way we are as a brotherhood in the NFL," he said. "It’s really important that we make sure we talk about one of our own getting the opportunity to play and compete in something that he loves. He shouldn’t be sacrificed because he brought up something that wasn’t a relevant talking point. He should have the opportunity."
Bennett also made it clear that his protests aren't solely about Kaepernick's job status.
"It’s always been broader," he said. "It’s always been about justice and discrimination in America, police brutality, women’s rights; all those different issues. Clean water; Flint, Michigan. Issues that are pertaining to America that we all need to pay attention to because it’s not until it happens to one of us that it’s important, but it’s important every single day regardless of what we have going on."
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Bennett himself was involved in an incident in Las Vegas in August in which he was handcuffed by police. Bennett later claimed he was racially profiled ; Las Vegas police denied that allegation .
Another opportunity for Kaepernick may have opened up Sunday when the Cardinals lost starting quarterback Carson Palmer to a broken arm . Bennett said he isn't about to look into his "glass ball" and make any predictions.
"We’ll see what happens, but you never know," he said.