Ron Chenoy/USA Today Sports
Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall kneeled during the national anthem at Denver’s NFL season opener against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, continuing the protest started by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Marshall, who was Kaepernick’s college teammate at the University of Nevada, made no public statements about his decision to kneel. But he has posted links to several stories about Kaepernick’s protest on Twitter in recent weeks, apparently expressing support for his bid to call attention to racial inequality. Kaepernick angered some fans when he first began refusing to stand for the anthem in August, declaring that he was “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Since Kaepernick started his protest, other athletes have joined in, including Marshall and women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe.