The National Anthem debate is boiling over to the top of the culture in the NFL, but it's been a topic of conversation across the entire sport of football. And, to the best of my knowledge, we now have our first Anthem-related casualty.
Albright College, a Division III school in Reading, Pa., 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has booted backup quarterback Gyree Durante from the team after kneeling for the Anthem before Saturday's game with Delaware Valley University.
“I was just taught you fight for what you believe in and you don’t bow to anyone,” Durante, who is black, told NBC Philadelphia. “I believe heavily in this. So I decided to fight for it.”
Durante was booted from the team not by the Lions' coaches or administrators, but in a decision by a 24-member leadership council composed of Durante's teammates. The team agreed to kneel during the coin toss and stand for the Anthem, but Durante went against his word to stand in his decision to kneel, according to teammates.
“We trusted him throughout the week, after time and time again he told us he would stand,” teammate Josh Powell told the station. ���When you can’t have a player on a team that you can trust, he’s got to go.”