Broncos shed light on decision to stand for National Anthem

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After a peaceful protest last Sunday saw 32 Denver Broncos take a knee for the National Anthem, the team has decided that they will stand—all together—for the foreseeable future.

A tweet from the Broncos official account released the below statement from the players on Thursday afternoon.As you might expect, both the decision to stand and the statement above were big topics of conversation during all media availability on the day, so much so that head coach Vance Joseph had to jokingly prod the media to ask football questions. It didn’t happen, though, with Joseph answering 17 consecutive questions about protests at one point.

“There was a lot of discussion about changing the platform,” the head coach explained. “The players felt [that] obviously it started with good intentions, but it’s been so negative. How can you make true change with this toxic environment? So that was the conversation. Let’s get back to playing football, let’s get back to standing for the anthem and then moving forward we could probably make change. With the environment that we’re in right now, no one’s going to make any change.”

Of course, there wasn’t going to be one decision that everyone wanted; you’re talking about more than 60 individuals when you count practice squad and injured players. So the Broncos turned to a good ol’ vote to make their decision, the goal being to come up with a final decision for everyone.

“We just had a Leadership Council meeting,” explained Chris Harris Jr. “Not everybody wanted to do it, but we voted and majority rules. We just came up with to stand… It’s the majority. It’s a vote. You can’t have your way every time… We all went with it, so everybody stands.”

Many questions surrounded three men who did get their way—John Elway, Joe Ellis and Vance Joseph, all of whom have voiced their opinions in favor of standing for the anthem. There was outside belief that the team must have felt pressure from the top to fall in line and stand on Sunday. Joseph, though was adamant that the brass had “not a bit” of influence on the team’s decision.

In the end, amid so much division, the decision to stand was about displaying the unity that the Broncos have always had.

“I don’t think it ever got personal,” said Derek Wolfe, who outlined his support for all decisions earlier in the week. “I think there are outside people trying to make it look like there’s division on this team, but there’s not. There’s nothing personal. People wanted to get their point across, and they did that. We all decided that we’re just going to stand.”

So, for now, they’ll stand. For now, the discussion can return to what happens between the whistles.