Kenny Stills explains why he ended his national anthem protest

Kenny Stills was one of several players who took up Colin Kaepernick’s cause last season by kneeling during the national anthem, but the Miami Dolphins wide receiver is not planning to continue the protest in 2017.

Stills and teammate Michael Thomas, who also took a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner” last year, both remained on their feet when the song played before Sunday’s preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald asked Stills why he changed his approach.

“I just felt like, we’re getting more attention for our protests than we were for the actual work we were doing,” he explained. “Now, we need to focus on action, and I feel like I’ve done a lot of that last year. I’ve done everything I can here in this community and I’ll continue to do that this year.”

Stills, who won the Nat Moore Community Service Award in 2016, hosted a town hall meeting with Thomas, Arian Foster and Jelani Jenkins last year. He was also part of a ride-a-long with the Broward Sheriff’s Office with the goal of improving the relationship between law enforcement and the community. Stills said he is “really excited” that other teams have planned their own ride-a-longs this season and that his goal is to have one player from each team doing that with their city.

While Stills may feel that protesting the national anthem is taking attention away from the actual issues, we have already seen multiple NFL players continue with it this preseason. You can expect the number of players taking part to increase in the coming weeks.

H/T Pro Football Talk
Photo: AFC East Miami Dolphins on YouTube