The Chicago Bears have one player on the record who plans to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice.
That player is safety Jordan Lucas:
Bears safety Jordan Lucas says "110 percent" he's going to kneel before games.
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) June 9, 2020
Lucas signed a one-year contract earlier in the offseason and is part of the depth mix at the position. His spot on the season-opening 55-man roster isn’t guaranteed. But if Lucas makes it, he let it be known that he “110 percent” will kneel before games. He also added this, via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times:
He said it should be up to the individual, and not need to be agreed to by the entire team. https://t.co/MeSK2wPUPd
— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) June 9, 2020
It’s important to note that, previously, Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy stated that whatever form of protest during that would take place would be talked about in a team setting and agreed upon by the team after the discussion. “What the players want to do, we’ll do. We’re gonna listen. We’ll talk through it. Then whatever we all decide to do, or they decide to do, we’ll do that ,” Nagy said during last week’s press availability. So Lucas’ comments today and Nagy’s from last week clash. That’s not ideal, but it’s why it’s important to have those conversations at some point.
And for what it’s worth, ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson tweets the Bears have yet to have those discussions, but they will come at a later time and date.
No matter what decision is made by the Bears or Lucas (or both), whatever comes down is something we’ll need to keep an eye on as we move along.