“I was absolutely terrified walking out there,” country singer Meghan Linsey admits, speaking of her journey to the microphone at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, where she performed the national anthem before a Titans game Sunday afternoon. “I knew what I was getting ready to do, and I understood what it meant. Obviously, I made a name for myself in country music, and I knew what the backlash would be. So I walked out there scared. But I have to go into my gut and my heart, and I knew that was the right thing to do today.”

Both the Titans & Seahawks remained in their locker rooms during the national anthem while the singer took a knee during her performance. pic.twitter.com/zeBQhYbKPN — FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 24, 2017





That thing was taking a knee at the end of the anthem, as the singer best known for taking Season 8 of The Voice down to the wire locked arms with her guitarist, Tyler Cain, who also got down on one knee. Linsey had expected to have more company on the field during her action, but she got word right before she went out that the Titans and the Seattle Seahawks had chosen to stay in the wings during the anthem. “That made it a little more scarier, I guess, that nobody was out there doing it with me,” she tells Yahoo. “And I hadn’t planned for this. But it was obviously just meant to be that I was there in this moment, and given this opportunity.”

She said her decision came earlier that morning. “Until yesterday, I didn’t even think about it that much,” she said Sunday evening. “Then I was thinking about the things that [the president] said yesterday, and I thought, ‘Man, it really does need to be addressed, and I think I’m in a position to take a stand and hopefully make a difference.’ I have a lot of African-American friends, and they can’t stand alone. I love America. I’m not unpatriotic. I appreciate our men and women in uniform. That’s not the issue. I think the issue is the things that are happening around us with racism, and Trump will come out and openly condemn NFL players for peacefully protesting, but then these white national terrorists bring their tiki torches and cause this violence, and then he has nothing to say. It was important to me to stand with [African-Americans].

“I couldn’t have gone out there and not done anything and felt good about it, because I have always built this platform on empowerment and loving people — whatever color, whatever sexual orientation. And it was like: Of all the days that I would sing the anthem! It put me in a weird spot. You’re making a choice when you walk out there, however you handle it. If you don’t take a knee, it’s like: what do you stand for? For me, anything else wasn’t an option.”

Meghan Linsey, a former contestant on “The Voice,” kneels after singing the national anthem before the start of the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 24, 2017. (Photo: Ryan Hermens/The Paducah Sun via AP) More

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