Tennessee Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews said that he’d quit playing in the NFL if there was a rule mandating players stand for the national anthem.
He was asked on Twitter Thursday by a local Nashville producer if he would remain in the locker room or tunnel during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” if the NFL created a rule for players to stand.
“No, I will be done playing football,” Matthews responded, ESPN reported. He then quickly deleted the tweet.
President Donald Trump put the debate front and center when he weighed in on it during a rally in Alabama.
“That’s a total disrespect of our heritage, that’s a total disrespect of everything that we stand for,” Trump said, referring to those kneeling during the anthem.
Matthews’s father and half-brother have both served in the Marines: his father served for 23 years, and his half-brother died in a plane crash in Afghanistan.
Last month, Matthews said that he was donating $75,000 to a group of “organizations working in oppressed communities.”
Titans tight end Delanie Walker last month said that fans who felt disrespected by the anthem protest should stay home.