Eagles Players Partake In National Anthem Protest On ESPN (VIDEO)

(via ESPN)

As expected, several Eagles players took part in a demonstration during the national anthem prior to Philadelphia’s game against Chicago Bears on ESPN Monday Night Football. Starting safety Malcolm Jenkins, Ron Brooks, Steven Means, and Marcus Smith (not pictured) each held one of their fists up in the air through the duration of the anthem. Watch the demonstration in the video below.

Jenkins explained the purpose of the protest in an interview with SportsRadio 94WIP on Friday evening.

“For me, it has nothing to do with this country or the flag or the anthem in and of itself,” said Jenkins. “Really, it’s just to continue to push forward the conversation about social injustice. And that’s not just — that’s a range of things from police brutality to wages and job opportunities, education.”

“There’s just a lot of things systematically that have been set up since this country’s inception that really put minorities, especially African Americans, at a disadvantage when you talk about quality of life, and actually growing in this country.”

Over the weekend, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson showed support for his players’ plan. He said the demonstration won’t be a distraction to the team.

Jenkins said he can’t speak for his teammates but he personally plans to continue to demonstrate throughout the remainder of the season.