Cowboys quarterback: Athletes should be able to kneel, but national anthem isn’t the time

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Wednesday stood by his recent comments that kneeling for the national anthem “takes away from the joy” of football.

Prescott told reporters that the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” before games is not the right time to protest social injustice, but added that he has nothing against those who kneel during the anthem.

“I never said I didn’t believe in social injustice and things that were going on. I just said I didn’t think that the national anthem was the time,” Prescott said, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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“It’s two minutes out of our day that we could also be spending embracing what our country should be and what our country is going to be one day that we know that it’s not right now,” he added. “That is the sad part about it. That it’s not.”

Prescott, who told reporters last week that kneeling has accomplished its job of raising awareness of social injustice, added that he personally wanted to focus on taking action rather than protesting.

Prescott’s comments largely aligned with those of Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, who earned praise from President Trump and scorn from the NFL when he said he’d require the team to stand for the national anthem in the coming season.

Each week of last season, numerous players took a knee or remained off the field during the song to protest social injustice. 

Trump has seized on the controversy, calling for players who protest to be fired and suggesting they don’t belong in the country.

NFL owners gave in to pressure from Trump and his supporters earlier this year when they approved a policy that will fine players who kneel during the anthem.