Life imitated "South Park" during Thursday night's NFL season opener when NBC announcer Al Michaels provided commentary on who did not stand for the playing of the national anthem.

The NFL season kicked off Thursday night with the New England Patriots hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. After Maren Morris concluded singing "The Star Spangled Banner," Michaels immediately said, "For the record, the only player we saw not standing was cornerback Marcus Peters of Kansas City."

The 20th season opener of "South Park" last year satirized NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protests, which have drawn considerable media attention. At the beginning of the episode, announcers provide breathless commentary as to which athletes at a grade-school volleyball game will stand or kneel for the national anthem.

Kaepernick and some other NFL players have sat or kneeled during the national anthem at games over the past year to raise awareness of police brutality.

Kaepernick's protest has gotten overwhelmingly positive coverage in the sports media, with many liberal writers claiming the reason he has not been signed as a free agent is because of his protests.

He had a 3-16 record in the past two seasons as a starter with the San Francisco 49ers.