4 Eagles Players Raise Fists in Protest During Anthem Before 'Monday Night Football' Game

CHICAGO, IL — Four players for the Philadelphia Eagles raised their fists during the playing of the national anthem before Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

The gesture by the players—safety Malcolm Jenkins, defensive end Steven Means, cornerback Ron Brooks and defensive end Marcus Smith—was to protest social injustice throughout the country. No other Eagles and no members of the Bears joined the demonstration, which aired during ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast. ESPN, however, did not air footage of Smith nor name him when they listed which players participated in the fist-raising.

Whooping and hollering was heard throughout Soldier Field crowd during the anthem, and a homemade sign held by two fans saying "STAND UP" was shown during the broadcast. Fireworks also were launched during and at the end of the song's performance.

Demonstrations like Monday's have been popping up at NFL games and other sporting events after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began taking a knee during the anthem in an exhibition game in August.

As always, social media platforms started to fill up with reaction from the fist protest, both supporting and criticizing the show of solidarity:

One individual also pointed out the possible hyprocisy in disapproval over the players' actions in comparison with that of other people at the game during the anthem:

logo via NFL

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