On August 26^th, 2016, the San Francisco 49ers faced off against the Green Bay Packers in one of the first preseason games of the 2016-17 NFL season.

Now, over a year later, the events of that day remain fresh in the minds of NFL fans and those paying attention to the political climate in America. It most certainly isn’t the events of the game itself that everyone is talking about.

On that day, Colin Kaepernick elected to remain seated during the National Anthem in protest of the recent stories and instances of police brutality and social inequality that had been shown and spread across all types of media. In a post-game interview last season, Kaepernick was quoted saying "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.

To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” In that moment, Kaepernick became one of the most polarizing faces in America.

Just last week, on September 22nd, 2017 President Donald Trump issued multiple blunt statements expressing his disdain for members of several NFL teams who have continued Kaepernick’sprotests. Trump even referred to these players as “sons of bitches,” claiming that they should be fired the moment they take a knee during the anthem.

Trump and many Americans view the protests as deliberately disrespectful to the American flag and members of the armed forces who have fought for that flag. In response to this, many players have clarified that their actions are not directed at the flag or members of the military, but at the social inequality they believe is spread across America.

September 24th, 2017 was an unprecedented day in NFL history in terms of the sheer amount of demonstrations across the league. Entire teams remained in the locker room or linked arms on the sideline. Owners and members of teams’ front offices made appearances on the field in solidarity with their players. Multiple owners made statements to show opposition to the statements made by the president.

The Steelers team remained in the locker room during the anthem, minus Alejandro Villanueva who stood alone outside the locker room (an unintended stance that could be construed as disrespect until Villanueva clarified how the instance transpired). Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe issued a statement claiming to understand the right to protest but also questioned why the protestors chose to remain in the country that they don’t view as already being great. No singular view appeared on NFL fields this past weekend.

Given the fact that there are many possible viewpoints and opinions regarding this subject, I feel it is important that we speak freely about our own views. Thus, I’d like to give my own opinion about the events of this past weekend. I am not going to delve into the specific social aspects that Kaepernick’s protest is based on because I feel that there is a lot more to say regarding that than I am willing to write in this article.

Instead, I’d like to focus on Trump’s rhetoric and two specific demonstrations.

First, I was surprised at the anger that President Trump expressed during his speech in Alabama. As he is also an American citizen, he has every right to believe what he does. However, instances like this past weekend, among other sound bites of his, definitely come across as shocking to myself and others. It’s odd to hear statements like his coming from the mouth of a politician.

I think that ideally, a politician should remain as unbiased as possible while also doing their best to enact the actions of the majority. Trump has every right to his opinion, but the key word is opinion. There are over 300 million citizens in this country and there is a pretty good chance some people perceive these protests in a different way than he does.

Secondly, the Dallas Cowboys decided that as an organization, they would kneel in the middle of the field prior to the actual anthem. The goal of this would be that they would get their message across while also not disrespecting the anthem. Despite this, the crowd booed their actions.

To me, this speaks volumes about the message of this protest and the fact many people simply don’t understand it. The anthem was not involved and the players were still booed. What issue did the fans have with that? The truth is that they themselves probably don’t even know. What often got lost this past weekend was the issue of social inequality that Kaepernick originally wanted to bring attention to.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the actions of my hometown Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Police during Week One of this NFL season. During a preseason game this year, roughly a dozen Browns players knelt during the anthem. As the story goes, the Cleveland Police Department took offense to this action and were going to refuse to work for the Browns during their games.

Instead, the Browns team and the police department came together to discuss the issues at hand. The resulting action was the Browns players ran out of the team tunnel week one alongside members of the police as well as firefighters, veterans, and active members of the armed forces.

The players and servicemen and women then stood arm in arm during our national anthem, a message of unity that I believe did not garner the praise it deserved. To me, it represented the perfect way to go about different viewpoints.

If you are willing to discuss with one another, the impact it can make will be more powerful than any individual action.