Bengals' Tyler Eifert takes public stance on standing for anthem

Tyler Eifert has never hidden his support of the military. Always one of the most vocal supporters and unafraid to speak about his beliefs, he took those thoughts to another level this week.

Eifert started the week opening up to The Enquirer on Beyond The Stripes about why he stands for the military. Then he capped it off by writing a story of his own for the web site Medium discussing the political divide in the country and why he chooses to stand.

MEDIUM: Tyler Eifert: Why I stand

When asked by Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty his opinion on players not standing for the anthem he offered this:

"I don't like that," Eifert said. "For me personally, I love this country and when I think about before a game ... the national anthem has always been one of my favorite parts before a game. You are sitting here on a sideline. They are standing on that sideline. We have thousands of troops that have died and we are sitting here to recognize that and I'm sitting here all nervous because we are going to play a game? There are people over there dying for us. It just kind of brings me back down to Earth that it really isn't that big of a deal to be here playing a football game when there are people doing a lot more important stuff. It's a good time to pay tribute to them."

The Bengals tight end posted on Instagram that he will wear cleats during Sunday's opener against Baltimore honoring fallen war hero Pat Tillman, who played for the Arizona Cardinals.

He also wrote for Medium under the headline "Why I stand" about Tillman and discussing further his feelings toward what the anthem has become.

He opened making it clear his objective by speaking out:

"I know it would probably be best to stay out of it, but when you believe in something as much as I do it gets to a point where you want both sides to be heard. I am not questioning anyone’s reasons or rights to protest, but instead the method. This entire protest about raising awareness for racial inequality has gotten lost in the media and turned into a debate about whether to sit or stand for the national anthem. I want to take this time to remind everyone why I stand."

The Bengals have never had a player involved in anthem protests, which escalated this preseason including a multi-player kneeling by the Cleveland Browns prior to a preseason game.

Cincinnati opens the season Sunday against Baltimore.