Broncos' Brandon Marshall calls President Trump's national anthem remarks 'disgusting'

Lindsay H. Jones | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump praises NFL's new national anthem policy On 'Fox & Friends,' President Donald Trump suggested that players who don't stand for the national anthem might not belong in the country.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Before eight games in the 2016 season and one game last year, Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality against minorities. So when he read Thursday that President Trump said players who don’t stand for the anthem maybe “shouldn’t be in this country,” Marshall had a strong reaction.

“It’s disgusting,” Marshall said. “It's disgusting because of our first amendment rights. We have freedom of speech, freedom to protest. So because guys protest something, we have to be kicked out the country? That's not how things should work.”

Marshall said he does not like the new NFL anthem policy, approved Wednesday by team owners in Atlanta, that requires all players who are on the sidelines to “stand and show respect” during the anthem. Those who do not wish to stand can remain in the locker room, but teams can be fined for violations.

Reaction from players around the league has been mostly if not all negative. Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin, according to the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune, said Thursday of the President; "He's an idiot, plain and simple."

Multiple players declined to comment because they viewed the President as trolling and didn’t want to dignify comments they viewed as foolish. Said one who requested anonymity, "I’m not going to respond to a troll. He wants us to react and respond and move eyes away from the issues he has created. Hope you understand.”

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Marshall said he and teammates have had preliminary discussions about the new policy and their plans for this season. Marshall said he is undecided, while cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said he expects to be on the sideline so not to disrupt his typical pregame routine. Many Broncos players were trying to figure out logistically what staying in the locker room might entail.

“If you're going to stay in or not. Well, if you're a starter, can you stay in if they're going to announce the starters? Or are you going to stay in on the road games? It's crazy,” Marshall said.

Even if players opt not to run afoul of the new policy by choosing to kneel during the anthem, Marshall said there still could be a significant disruption if a substantial number of players choose to remain in the locker room. And players who chose to remain in the locker room won’t be doing so in secret, with media members likely taking roll and cameras waiting to see who jogs out of the tunnel after the anthem is finished.

“We know y’all going to keep the scorecard. You all are going to say who is out there or not,” said Harris, who joined the majority of his teammates in taking a knee before one game last September but otherwise has not demonstrated. “(Players) will still get judged.”

Marshall is used to the scrutiny. He has been a leader in promoting social justice causes, particularly in working to fight police brutality, since he joined former Nevada teammate Colin Kaepernick in taking a knee during the 2016 season. Marshall ended his protest after meeting with Denver police in 2016 and receiving word that the department would review its use of force policy.

His off-field work has continued with additional meetings with police officers, volunteering with charities supporting victims of domestic violence and the establishing an academic and career mentoring program in his hometown of Las Vegas. This weekend, Marshall is taking a group of high school students who met the requirements of the program to visit Washington, D.C.

He said he wished NFL owners had consulted the players union before amending the anthem policy, but he wasn’t surprised that conversation didn’t happen. If owners were to listen, he would want to tell them why police brutality is such a personal issue to so many black players.

“Maybe they could see it from our side. Right now I think they just see it from a business standpoint, people boycotting or thinking they're going to lose money or whatever the case may be,” Marshall told USA TODAY Sports. “But as athletes, we cared about something different, and we would hope to bridge the gap, and hopefully come to some conclusion, or find some common ground. But it just didn't happen.”

Contributing: Mike Jones

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.