Fans booed a “moment of unity” observed between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night's season opener.
While players locked arms, the scoreboard showed these phrases: “We Support Equality; We Must End Racism; We Believe in Justice for All; We Must End Police Brutality; We Choose Unconditional Love; We Believe Black Lives Matter; It Takes All of Us.”
“Unity” was too much for some in the crowd, which was at a lesser capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sports Illustrated adds: “The ‘Moment of Unity' took places following the performance of the national anthem. Players on the Houston Texans elected to remain in the locker room during the performance of both the national anthem and ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,' commonly know as the Black national anthem. Players on the Kansas City Chiefs elected to remain on the field. Chiefs linebacker Alex Okafor took a knee during the national anthem, the lone Kansas City player to do so. According to NBC Sports' Michele Tafoya, players on the Texans decided to stay in the locker room for both songs.”
Said Texans' player JJ Watt: “I mean the booing during that moment was unfortunate. I don't fully understand that. There was no flag involved. There was nothing involved other than two teams coming together to show unity.”
Read Watt's full statement:
