Huge National Anthem Protest By Some Philadelphia Eagles Scheduled For Tonight’s ‘Monday Night Football’ Game

Colin Kaepernick’s stance against the national anthem was only just the beginning, but they still aren’t over as week two of the NFL season prepares to come to an end. Tonight on Monday Night Football, the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears will face off in an NFC battle, but the bigger story may come before kickoff. Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins says there are plans for a rather large national anthem protest to come, and it could last the whole season.

According to Delaware Online, Jenkins has plans to protest during the national anthem before Monday night’s game against the Bears. He will be doing it as a symbolic action to show support for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who started it by kneeling during the anthem.

Kaepernick said he was doing it to get a message out there about the social injustices of the country and how big of a problem it truly is for many people.

Before the weekend began, Malcolm Jenkins spoke with 94 WIP radio about his actions and said he wasn’t sure what he would do. He did say he will not kneel as Kaepernick did and plans to speak with numerous teammates about joining his movement due to how important it is.

“That’s a range of things from police brutality to wages and job opportunities, education. It’s just a lot of things systematically that have been set up in this country, since its inception, that really put minorities, especially African Americans, at a disadvantage when you talk about quality of life, and actually growing in this country.”

The Federalist Papers says that many players aren’t really looking at doing this for a sole purpose or reason but to get others to look at them. It’s said that Kaepernick did it for a reason but the other players doing it “have made fools of themselves” by trying to copy the quarterback’s refusal to stand.

While some players may only show their solidarity before one game, Malcolm Jenkins says for him, “it’ll probably be a season-long thing.” There were original plans to have a protest of some kind by the Eagles in Week 1, but it just so happened that the date was Sept. 11.

Jenkins said that the Eagles decided as a team to not distract away from the victims, their families, or first responders on that day.

Malcolm Jenkins: Eagles decided to wait until after 9/11 to join anthem protests. https://t.co/Ob2hxxAzvV

— USA TODAY Sports (@USATODAYsports) September 17, 2016

Myke Tavarres is a rookie who didn’t make the final cut for the Philadelphia Eagles, and he planned on not standing for the national anthem in the final preseason game. He ended up changing his mind, but Jenkins says he supports whatever his teammates choose to do.

While he would like others on the Eagles team to join him, he’s doing it to show what he believes in, according to CSN Philly.

“So we want to continue to keep that conversation going and push it to as many people as we can. Obviously, while also doing our part in bringing forth change. And I think, obviously, this has been a hot topic and the more players that join in, the further this conversation goes. And I think after the initial shock of what happened and once everybody started to listen to what his message was, it’s become a really good conversation that’s going on nationwide. I think every player has an opinion and definitely wants to share, use their stage to do better.”

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson understands what some players wish to do with their beliefs and feelings, so he’s not stopping them from doing anything. He has said in the past that the Eagles “respect the national anthem,” but he also gives his players the freedom to voice their stance.

If Malcolm Jenkins was able to talk to enough of his teammates and get them on his side, there could be a rather large protest during the national anthem this evening.

The national anthem protest by Colin Kaepernick is one that had been ridiculed and looked down upon by many people, but it’s now gaining support. On this evening’s Monday Night Football, the world could see a lot of Philadelphia Eagles players joining Malcolm Jenkins in speaking their minds with their actions. It is sure to draw a lot of attention and could end up taking the focus away from their game with the Chicago Bears.

[Featured Image by Mithcell Leff/Getty Images]