Ole Miss Players Kneel During National Anthem Before UGA Game

OXFORD, MISS -- The volatile issue of athletes kneeling during the national anthem was revived on Saturday in Georgia, when eight Ole Miss basketball players knelt before an NCAA contest with the University of Georgia on Saturday. According to the Associated Press, the players were responding to a pro-Confederacy rally near the arena.

Six players took a knee at the start of the “The Star-Spangled Banner,” with two other players joining them.

Kneeling during the anthem has become a popular way for athletes — starting with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick — to protest racial injustice and inequality. The topic returned to the nation's sports attention during the recent Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta when the NFL refused to allow pre-game press conferences with the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show performers, including Maroon 5.

Several local Atlanta media outlets speculated the NFL didn't want its performers to be faced with questions about Kaepernick, who hasn't played in the NFL since 2016. Atlanta is arguably the birthplace of the modern civil rights movement, and Kaepernick, a former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, gained international attention for kneeling during the pre-game national anthem.

Read more: NFL Cancels Pre-Game Presser With Super Bowl Halftime Performers

And: 41 Hate Groups Are Active In Georgia

The choice of Maroon 5 to headline the show also came under criticism, when some social media activists argued the halftime show should showcase Atlanta's hip hop scene.

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