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Browns Players Kneel During National Anthem

(Source: zoonabar on flickr)
(Source: zoonabar on flickr)

At the Browns game Monday night, as the national anthem was beginning, a dozen players gathered on Cleveland's sideline and took a knee.

They were the latest NFL players to demonstrate with the silent protest made famous last season by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He was protesting police officers killing unarmed black people.

The twelve Browns players say they were kneeling to pray. They say their prayers were both for Americans struggling against racism, and for the country as a whole.

Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer did not kneel but instead stood nearby his teammates in solidarity.

"In a time where this country is kind of all over the place in a sense of human rights and the racist movements," Kizer said, "I decided it was a time for me to join my brothers who decide to take a knee and support them while they were praying."

Among the 12 players kneeling was tight end Seth DeValve. DeValve is white, and he's reportedly the first white NFL player to kneel during the national anthem. After the game he called the United States the greatest country in the world, but said it doesn't provide equal opportunity to everyone.