Eagles players protest during National Anthem at Bears game

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Tuesday, September 20, 2016
3 Eagles players protest during national anthem
Philadelphia Eagles players Steven Means (51), Malcolm Jenkins (27) and Ron Brooks (33) raise their arms during the national anthem before Bears game on Sept. 19, 2016.
AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato-AP

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Three players from the Philadelphia Eagles raised their fists in protest during the National Anthem before their Monday night game against the Chicago Bears.



Defensive end Steven Means, strong safety Malcom Jenkins and defensive back Ron Brooks all raised clenched fists during the anthem. The protest was planned.



San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been in the news often since the start of the football season, first remaining seated and then taking a knee during the National Anthem to protest police violence against people of color.



Jenkins said Saturday he would lead teammates in a demonstration against social injustice. Jenkins had insisted the protest would not be "an anti-police thing" and that police "are a key part of the solution in this issue."



On Saturday, fans already had opinions about the planned protest.



"It is a great platform for people like that to be able to take a stand," said Telia McFadden.



"A player doesn't have a First Amendment right as an employee of a football team," said Tom Osran.



"Most people don't like change but when one person do something and everybody can sees it doing god, everybody's going to follow," said David Jackson.



Eagles coach Doug Pederson said he supported whatever the team decided to do and would be willing to participate.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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