The mother of a United States Marine held up a sign that included the hashtag “#Idon’tkneel” during a morning show ahead of the Clemson-Georgia game on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.
David Hookstead shared a screenshot of the sign on Twitter, writing, “Mother of a United States Marine brings a ‘I Don’t Kneel’ sign to College GameDay. This is the kind of pro-America attitude we love to see. Thank you for your son’s service and sacrifice.”
Appearing around the 9:45 mark in video shared on Twitter of ESPN’s “College Gameday,” the sign reads “Proud Marine Mom” with a photo of her Devil Dog and the seal of the Marine Corps. The poster also said, “Love you Ryan!” and included the hashtag “#Idon’tkneel,” which appears to address the activist movement promoting kneeling in protest during the National Anthem.
The person’s sign, first noticed by the Daily Caller, was displayed just over a week after 11 Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy corpsman were killed in a terrorist attack outside the Kabul airport during President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Those killed were later identified as Navy corpsman Maxton Soviak, and Marines Kareem Nikoui, David Espinoza, Rylee McCollum, Jared Schmitz, Hunter Lopez, Taylor Hoover, Daegan William-Tyeler Page, Nicole Gee, Humberto Sanchez, Dylan Merola, Johanny Rosario Pichardo and Army soldier Ryan Knauss.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blocked GOP representatives from reading on the House floor the names of the 13 United States troops who were killed in the suicide bombing.
While it is unclear whether both college and professional football teams plan on kneeling during the Star-Spangled Banner this season, the National Football League recently announced its players will once again be allowed to wear Black Lives Matter and other social justice messaging on their helmets for the 2021-2022 season. “It Takes All of Us” and “End Racism” will also be written in the end zones for the second year in a row as part of the league’s “Inspire Change” effort.
Players can choose from six messages to feature on their helmets, including “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “It Takes All of Us,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Inspire Change” and “Say Their Stories.”
All home games will feature the end zone messaging, except in cases when another cause is being highlighted. For instance, when a team hosts a Salute to the Service game, “End Racism” will be replaced with “Salute To Service.”
