The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers each made anti-racist statements ahead of their Monday night game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
As a follow-up to their Monday morning messages, the Steelers held up a long white banner that read “Steelers Against Racism” during the national anthem. Tight end Eric Ebron was one of the players holding his fist in the air.
During the pre-game warm-ups, a handful of Steelers players along with coach Mike Tomlin wore T-shirts with social justice messages such as “Black Lives Matter” and “End Racism”.
The Giants had about 20 players kneeling during the national anthem. Coach Joe Judge stood with his arms on the shoulders of safety Jabrill Peppers and defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson.
“Nothing was written in terms of who stood next to me or who I touched. But we made the decision as a team that we are going to respect everyone and what makes it special is is that you respect each other’s unique backgrounds and you can move on. “Said the judge.” So we went out there, respected the rights of our players and the choice to handle things like they wanted to manage it. I respect the way our players handled this by not letting anything from the outside divide us, and we went out there and played football. . “
Earlier this month, when the subject of the anthem was brought up, Giants co-owner John Mara said his “preference is for everyone to stand up. But if you decide that in your conscience, take a knee is the right thing to do, I’m gonna support your right to do this because I believe in the First Amendment and I believe in the right of people, especially players, to take a knee in silent protest if this is what they want to do. “
The Giants stayed on the field after the pre-game warm-ups and lined up at the goal line for “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing,” known as the Black National Anthem. No one knelt down. The Steelers stayed in the locker room. Giants linebacker Lorenzo Carter, who has been outspoken about racial injustice, was clearly moved and in tears.
We are united against racism. #ItTakesAllOfUs pic.twitter.com/xfeUACPu8Z
– Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 14, 2020
For Week 1, the league ordered each home game to play two songs during the pre-game: “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. The league does not require teams to be on the field during the presentation of the anthem, nor does it prohibit kneeling.
In Game 2 of the Monday Night Football Doubles Game, 20 players from host Denver Broncos took a knee during the anthem, along with 12 players from the Tennessee Titans.
On the Denver side, Jurrell Casey and DeMarcus Walker were among a handful of players who stood tall but with a raised fist. Other players who were standing next to teammates who took a knee put their hands on the shoulders of the kneeling players. Both teams were on the pitch as the national anthem was played.
In Game 1, MetLife Stadium had “It Takes All of Us” and “End Racism” written on the back of the end zones. The Steelers wore “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts during the early warm-ups while the Giants had “End Racism”.
The Steelers announced earlier Monday that all players will wear the name Antwon Rose Jr. on the back of their helmets to honor and remember the black Pittsburgh teenager who was fatally shot in the back by a white Pittsburgh cop in 2018. But left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, a former US Army Ranger, had Alwyn Cashe’s name written on the back of his helmet. Cashe, a Black Army veteran, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his heroism in Iraq.
ESPN Writer Brooke Pryor and ESPN Senior Writer Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.
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