NFL Protests ‘Not About Patriotism:’ Tony Dungy

TAMPA, FL — When NFL players across the country took a knee – or refused to leave their locker rooms – while the “Star Spangled Banner” played Sunday, two of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ own also expressed their unity for the movement that began last season to protest police brutality. Appearing on NBC's Today Show Monday, former Bucs head coach Tony Dungy supported DeSean Jackson and Mike Evans’ decision to kneel.

Dungy said NFL players want people to know “this is not about the flag, this is not about patriotism.” According to NBC affiliate WFLA, Dungy explained it’s about wanting “social change.”

Sunday’s protests across the NFL came on the heels of President Donald Trump’s statement that players who choose to kneel during the national anthem should be fired.

At the league's first Sunday game in London, where the Baltimore Ravens were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars, a couple dozen players took a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Jacksonville's owner, Shahid Khan, stood in a line shoulder-to-shoulder with his players, all of their arms interlocked in solidarity. Ravens coach John Harbaugh did the same.

"We recognize our players' influence. We respect their demonstration and support them 100 percent. All voices need to be heard. That's democracy in its highest form," Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said in a statement.

• See also: NFL Players Defy Trump, Protest At Sunday Games

The Pittsburgh Steelers skipped the national anthem altogether, remaining in their locker room for a private ceremony related to the flag. The entirety of the team, with the exception of Alejandro Villanueva who served in the Army, remained inside before the start of the game.

Last week across the entire NFL, only four players knelt or sat, and two stood with their fists raised. Associated Press reporters and photographers counted the players kneeling or sitting at every NFL game Sunday. With one more game to go Monday night, already more than 200 players chose to protest. A handful of others raised their fists. The league has 1,696 players on active rosters.

"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a b***h off the field right now, out, he's fired," Trump said to the crowd at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday. "He's fired!

Dungy offered his own take on how to end the player protests: “It’s not going away, but listening, understanding the other person’s point of view and trying to work together to go forward, that is what we need.”

Patch’s Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this story.

Photo by Matt Dunham/Associated Press