Arian Foster, Dolphins defend kneeling during national anthem

The four Miami Dolphins players who kneeled during the national anthem on Sunday were prepared for the inevitable backlash, and defended their position after the game.

Running back Arian Foster led the discussion, telling reporters that they felt the need to do what they did.

“They say it’s not the time to do this. Well, when is the time?” Foster said Sunday, via James Walker of ESPN. “It’s never the time in somebody else’s eyes, because they’ll always feel like it’s good enough. And some people don’t.

“That’s the beautiful thing about this country is if somebody feels it’s not good enough, they have their right. And that’s all we’re doing, is exercising the right.”

Linebacker Jelani Jenkins concurred.

“A lot of things are happening to people that look like me,” Jenkins said. “I think that it was pulling on my heart to stand up and not act like I haven’t seen [injustice] and not act like everything is OK, because it’s not. So it’s very important to me.”

Wide receiver Kenny Stills explained that it was not meant to be an act of disrespect.

“I think there is a lot of negativity surrounding this decision, and we are not looking to hurt anyone’s feelings,” Stills said. “We’re not looking to disrespect anyone. That’s why we chose to put our hands over our heart, as well. We also stood during President Obama’s speech which honored the 9/11 victims. I know there’s going to be a lot of negativity around that. Arian is going to share the message about that, and we hope that people are going to understand where we’re coming from.”

It didn’t stop the tide of criticism that the foursome received, including from a fellow Miami athlete. The decision was particularly controversial given that it was the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, something that the players were aware of.