Few fans lock arms
They chant ‘USA, USA’ before national anthem
GREEN BAY - Chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” reverberated around Lambeau Field on Thursday as the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears stood to observe the national anthem. Players and coaches from both teams locked arms on their respective sidelines. No one sat and no one kneeled. The decision by the Packers to lock arms was meant as a display of unity, a message made public through a statement crafted by the players earlier this week. They encouraged fans to do the same, and while the anthem proved to be uneventful, the majority of spectators did not link arms with their neighbors.
“Guys wanted to know what we could do to be together so that guys aren’t sitting alone and have to feel like they’re not part of everything that’s going on, because it affects us all,” tight end Martellus Bennett said earlier this week. “There’s no longer a bubble where you don’t feel like you’re part of the real world. Everyone’s a part of this. It affects all of us — not some more than others. It affects everybody.”
The peaceful demonstration came four days after the Packers put forth something of a disjointed message during the national anthem prior to kickoff with the Cincinnati Bengals. Where certain teams around the league took unanimous
action, there were differing approaches in Green Bay.
Up front, dozens of players locked arms along the sideline at Lambeau Field.
In back, three players remained seated for the duration of the anthem — rookie cornerback Kevin King and tight ends Bennett and Lance Kendricks — but even then the ratiodefensive nale was multi-pronged.
Still others, like outside linebacker Clay Matthews and defensive end Dean Lowry, stood at attention with hands on hearts, their actions indistinguishable from any other game.
For Bennett, who is at the epicenter of the Packers’ movement, the decision to sit was made in the moment because of what he felt at the time. Bennett has vocalized his feelings about racial inequality and police brutality in the past, most notably after an incident involving his brother, Seattle Seahawks end Michael Bennett, and the Las Vegas Police Department went public in early September.
For Kendricks, the Milwaukee native and former Wisconsin star, sitting through the anthem reflected his support of Bennett and his displeasure with the actions of President Donald Trump, who Kendricks feels has shown disinterest in addressing recent natural disasters.
In the echo chambers of social media, reactions ranged from sympathetic to sour, from indifferent to enraged.
Kathy Howell and Rabah Bellir, two Milwaukee residents in attendance Thursday, planned to link arms from their 300-level seats.
“What (Packers quarterback Aaron) Rodgers wants us to do I’m going to do,” Howell said. “I’m in support of peaceful protest.”
Teresa Beardsley, a Bears fan from Frankfort, Ind., said she would stand with her hand over her heart “because that’s who I am.”
But during the week there were others who likened Bennett, Kendricks and King to wealthy and unpatriotic brats, criticizing them for what some perceived to be inappropriate actions in the workplace since football is their job.
“I mean if you look at the message, no one’s ever said anything negative about veterans or the military or anything like that,” Bennett said earlier this week. “That’s never been what’s said. I think people are trying to avoid the conversation by changing the conversation. … People don’t want to talk about racism, they don’t want to talk about oppression... But this is a conversation you can’t avoid.”
But Thursday night came and went without disturbance. The fans may not have linked their arms, but the movement was peaceful nonetheless.
Whatever social media posters promised as punishment for players, a Packers touchdown on the first drive was met with raucous cheers around the bowl.