First white NFL player to kneel during national anthem is married to a black woman
On Monday night, before a pre-season game, members of the Cleveland Browns knelt in prayer during the national anthem.
Among them was Seth DeValve, the first white NFL player to participate in such a protest.
“I wanted to take the opportunity with my teammates during the anthem to pray for our country,” the 24-year-old player said. “And also to draw attention to the fact that we have work to do. And that’s why I did what I did.”
This just one week after Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett called for white players to join in the protests around the country.
— Prominent NYPD officers show support for Colin Kaepernick during Brooklyn rally —Â
“It would take a white player to really get things changed, because when somebody from the other side understands and they step up and they speak up about it…it would change the whole conversation,” Bennett said at the time.
For DeValve, this is also a personal fight, as he married an African-American woman, Erica Harris, in June of this year.
“I wanted to support my African-American teammates today who wanted to take a knee. We wanted to draw attention to the fact that there’s things in this country that still need to change. I myself will be raising children that don’t look like me, and I want to do my part as well to do everything I can to raise them in a better environment than we have right now,” DeValve said.
