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Tenn. Titans WR Rishard Matthews Tweets, Then Deletes Claim He’ll Quit If Forced to Stand for Anthem

By | Published on October 14, 2017
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Rishard Matthews has been silent about the NFL and the national anthem protest since deleting his tweet.
(Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)

Tenessee Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews may have changed his mind about quitting football over a possible new national anthem rule. The star tweeted and then deleted that he’d be “done” with the game if the NFL imposed a requirement for players to stand during the national anthem.

Matthews has since been silent on the matter.

Days earlier on Tuesday, Oct. 10, ESPN reporter Adam Schefter tweeted about the possibility.

However, on Friday, NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart told Reuters that the owners, commissioner Rodger Goodell and the head of the NFL Players Association will meet Oct. 17-18 to discuss a possible way to stop players from protesting during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The movement was launched last season by former-San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick and has since grown to include more than 200 NFLers.

Related:  NFL and the National Anthem 

Black Lawmaker Kneels On House Floor After Trump’s Criticism of NFL Players’ Protest

Two Very Different Responses to NFL Protest: Seahawks Launch Charity, Fox Scraps Anthem Coverage from Lineup

Are the NFL Anthem Protests Evidence of Athletes Standing Against Racism, Or Has Black Activism Been Hijacked?

“What we don’t have is a proposal that changes our policy, we don’t have something that mandates anything,” Lockhart said Oct. 13. “That’s clear. If that was the case, I doubt the head of the NFLPA would have put a joint statement out with us.”

The statement released Wednesday from the NFL and NFLPA noted the policy had not changed and that the meeting will continue a discussion on “how to make progress on the important social issues that players have vocalized.”

“So for everyone who has speculated over the last few days that somehow there is a proposal that is set for a vote on Tuesday or Wednesday, you are speculating,” Lockhart told Reuters. “Those who are reporting it as fact are reporting it incorrectly.”

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