Last week, Albright College made national news when it kicked one of its quarterbacks off the team for kneeling for the National Anthem. The caveat here was that the player in question, Gyree Durante, was kicked off by a 20-member council of his teammates.
“We trusted him throughout the week, after time and time again he told us he would stand,” teammate Josh Powell told NBC Philadelphia. “When you can’t have a player on a team that you can trust, he’s got to go.”
The team had agreed to kneel as one for the coin toss and stand together for the Anthem. Subsequently, two players were kicked off the team for not sufficiently kneeling for the coin toss.
On Monday, Albright College president Jacquelyn Fetrow reinstated all three. She announced the decision in a letter posted to the school's website.
During the past week you have received two communications from me regarding events occurring at the Delaware Valley University football game last week. I have heard from many of you and I appreciate and understand your strong emotions around the many intertwined and complicated issues.
Ongoing review of the details surrounding the game’s events has provided greater clarity. What we understood to be shared agreement among players, student leaders, and coaches has not been adequately supported. As a result, each of the students dismissed from the football team for failure to comply with the team’s shared agreement established for that day has been offered reinstatement to the team.
While we focused on the issue of trust and shared agreement on a football field, much larger issues of social and racial injustice were brought into the spotlight. These must be addressed. We are moving forward quickly and aggressively with a program that will engage our entire community, one that actively supports the full participation of all community members.
It is not immediately known if Durante or the two players ejected for not kneeling will return to the squad.