Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Mike Evans took a knee during the national anthem on Sunday in protest of president-elect Donald Trump, and says he plans on doing so until "Ashton Kutcher comes out and says we’ve been punked."
Yesterday's slate of NFL games were the annual "Salute To Service" games just days after Veteran's Day, so Evans' decision not to stand for the anthem is being magnified even more.
Following Tampa Bay's 36-10 victory over the Bears on Sunday, Evans told reporters:
"I don’t want to, you know, disrespect the veterans or anything. The men and women who serve this country, I’m forever indebted to them. But the things that’s been going on in America lately, I’m not going to stand for that. When Ashton Kutcher comes out and says we’ve been punked, then I’ll stand again. But I won’t stand anymore.”
“If this happens, then America’s not right right now. I said this a long time ago. When [Donald Trump] ran, I thought it was a joke, and the joke continues.
“I’m not a political person that much, but I got common sense. And I know when something’s not right."
Evans added that it's not about which political party he supports, but just who Donald Trump is as a person that made him take a knee during the playing of the National Anthem.
"It's not about the Republican party or the Democratic party or anything like that," he continued. "It's just who he is. It's well-documented what he's done. I'm not gonna stand for something I don't believe in. That's the end of that."