Fans Sing National Anthem After Announcer Says It Won't Be Played

FRESNO, CA -- A California crowd took the initiative last Friday to sing the national anthem after an announcer said it wouldn't be played before a second game. The Fresno Bee said the a-cappella by "hundreds of fans" happened at the Clovis-Buchanan softball game.

"There’s a reason the crowd at Friday’s softball championship game stood up and sang when the announcer told them two times there would be no anthem," a Fresno Bee opinion piece wrote. "This is America. On Memorial Day weekend. When the flag is flying on every Main Street lamp post from here to there and back."

Tiffany Marquez, a member of the crowd, told the Fresno Bee she was "shocked" when the announcer said they wouldn't play the national anthem again.

“Within seconds, you could hear people in the crowd singing and the volume of their voices building. There I was, standing in the middle of a true testament to unity and patriotism," Marquez said.

The move by the Fresno crowd comes after the NFL announced a new policy requiring all players to stand during the song or stay inside their locker room. Any player who chooses not to stand for the anthem will see his team fined.

The policy comes nearly two years after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick chose to kneel during the "Star-Spangled Banner" in protest of police misconduct. Kaepernick's move prompted athletes throughout the nation to follow.

Check out video of the crowd singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" below.

--Photo via Shutterstock