Titans, Seahawks join in protest, stay in locker room for national anthem

In a joint decision, the Tennessee Titans and the Seattle Seahawks stayed in the locker room during the national anthem before their game on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

"I let the team make the decision. I was supportive of it," Titans coach Mike Mularkey said after the game.

"That was a decision that the players were really hoping we could do and based on all of the concerns, and the Titans wanted to do the same thing," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "So that's just a statement that they felt they needed to make and I thought it was in a way, it wasn't a demonstrative thing on the field, I think it was a classy way to demonstrate your dissent for what had happened and all of that. I don't think it had any factor in the game at all. the fact that... I was proud of Mike (Mularkey), Mike wanted to do the same thing so we did that together and it was a statement that all the players wanted to make."

Both of the teams released statements minutes before the anthem was to take place.

"As a team, we wanted to be unified in our actions today," the Titans said in the release. "The players jointly decided this was the best course of action. Our commitment to the military and our community is resolute and the absence of our team for the national anthem shouldn't be misconstrued as unpatriotic."

Seattle also issued a statement:

Players from both teams stayed in the locker room for the anthem, sang by Meghan Linsey. After her rendition, she and her guitar accompanist both took a knee.

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Like the reaction in the stadium, the reaction on social media was mixed by the decision:

Not all the reaction was positive:

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The protests in Nashville and around the league come just days after President Donald Trump spoke at a rally Friday night in Huntsville, Ala. calling for NFL players to be fired for protesting the national anthem:

"Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired!”

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Several players from the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons were among those who chose not to stand for the anthem. The Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets stood with arms locked, though some players from those teams chose to kneel.

Included in the group of players who protested: Julius Peppers, who did not to join his Carolina Panthers teammates on the sideline; LeSean McCoy, who stretched during the anthem before the Bills game; and Adrian Peterson, who was one of several Saints players to remain seat.

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Check back for updates as this story is developing throughout the day.