Denver Broncos star pass rusher Von Miller knew very well that kneeling for the national anthem could cost him money. His teammate, linebacker Brandon Marshall, took a knee last season and lost endorsements.

The same thing happened to Miller on Monday. Phil Long Ford in Denver said it wouldn’t be continuing its sponsorship agreement with Miller, the Super Bowl 50 MVP who is enormously popular in Denver. A spokesman for Phil Long Ford told CBS4 in Denver that it wasn’t firing Miller, but it was in a contract renewal negotiation and Miller kneeling for the anthem caused them to cut that off.

Here is the statement given to CBS4 in Denver:

“We are evaluating the events of the weekend. It is important to state that we haven’t fired Von. We are in the middle of contract renewal and this weekend’s events remind us that sometimes we feel that we best represent ourselves. We support Von and his first amendment rights, we know Von and he’s a good person. He donated a police car to his hometown police dept. All that notwithstanding when we bring in celebrities to represent us we run the risk of being misrepresented.

“We, like millions of Americans are concerned and will respond consistently with our values as a proud American company founded by a war hero (Phil Long). While we can’t control the actions of others we can be responsible for how we support our nation and community. That is why, years ago, our principal owner, Jay Cimino, founded the Mount Carmel Veteran’s Service center, and is supported by all Phil Long Dealerships. We support this cause not just with our words, but financially as well, and it is serving hundreds of veterans in need right here in Colorado. This would be a great time for our community to show support for our military community by supporting this cause or others that continue to serve them after they serve us.”

President Donald Trump made comments last week which led to the largest demonstration we’ve seen among NFL players during the national anthem. Those demonstrations will have some ramifications, and we’ll see those play out over the next few weeks and maybe months. Some players are going to lose money for taking a stand, as Miller can tell you.

Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller lost a sponsorship after kneeling for the national anthem. (AP) More

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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