Washington Redskins head coach Ron Rivera is no stranger to his players kneeling during the national anthem.
Safety Eric Reid, who was one of the first players to kneel during the anthem at the start of the 2016 season along with Colin Kaepernick, became the first player on the Carolina Panthers to kneel when he joined the team in 2018.
As the head coach of the Panthers at the time, Rivera said that one of the first things he did before they signed Reid was not to figure out his specific role in the defensive scheme but to read the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Oath of Office.
As the kneeling controversy has resurfaced recently in reaction to Drew Brees’ comments, Rivera said that he found himself doing the same thing he did two years ago: reading the Constitution.
“When you do that and then when you read the Oath of Office, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, we should be supportive of people’s rights of free speech,” Rivera said. “When Eric and I talked, it was an eye-opener for everyone. It also helped me to really understand what the protest was about in terms of taking a knee.”
Rivera is the son of a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army and grew up on five military bases in three countries. As he enters his tenth season of coaching at the professional level, he is one of the four coaches of color in the league, with there only being three black head coaches in the league currently- the same number as when the Rooney Rule was adopted in 2003. Rivera is a part of a Redskins organization that made Jennifer King the first full-time African-American female assistant coach in NFL history. Rivera’s military upbringing has long defined the way that he coaches at the NFL level but it has never stopped him from supporting players’ right to speak out.
So when future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson told the Houston Chronicle last week that he would “without a doubt” kneel during the national anthem next season, Rivera was not phased because he has been here before with Reid.
“It had nothing to do with our military, nothing to do with our first responders, nothing to do with the flag,” Rivera said of Reid kneeling. “It had everything to do with social injustice and brutality, police brutality, and working to get that corrected.”
During a time in which players increasingly use their personal social media to make their voices heard, Rivera has created a safe space for the Redskins players to protest and listen to one another. He said that the Redskins have developed a town hall program led by six members of the organization. Team owner Dan Snyder has started off the program with a $250,000 donation.
Star athletes on the Redskins have elected to try to make a more immediate impact. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. participated in protests in D.C. and defensive end Chase Young took part in the call to action video that NFL players created in the wake of the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
“I was proud of our community for joining together to condemn these societal issues that have faced our community for far too long,” Rivera said. “I was especially proud of two of our young players: Dwayne Haskins and Chase Young.”
Rivera also organized a Zoom meeting with the players a few days following Floyd’s murder. He said that he wanted to create a space where players could listen and be heard. Rivera said that he now understands it was a mistake for him not to address the entire organization sooner. It was important to him that a tangible, actionable plan was created in order to make an impact on the Black Lives Matter movement going forward.
“We just don’t want to talk about it, we want to get involved,” Rivera said. “We want it to be really thought out.”
Haskins said that he appreciated Rivera’s willingness to organize meetings so that players could share their perspectives.
“I really applaud him for that and his confidence being able to stand with us,” Haskins said. “He definitely wants to make a change as well, he wants to continue to work on being a united team and trying to be a difference in our community having played for the Washington Redskins and being in D.C. ”
The desire to hear and listen to new perspectives is what led Haskins to protest himself. He said that he has tried to distance himself from social media because of the influx of information, some true and some not.
“It’s easy for me to preach how bad it is and the injustice and everything of that nature,” Haskins said. “I want to go see the people protest, I listen to the people talk, I listen to people on the blow horns talking about their life experiences. Just try to get to know the next man and try to be a better person. That’s something I always want to work on.”
Haskins has not made a decision yet on whether or not he is going to kneel during the national anthem next season. But he did make it clear that he supports all of his teammates and their decisions.
And that support amongst teammates, something that was largely absent when Kaepernick first kneeled almost four years ago, comes from the top. It comes from having a coach like Rivera, who has been tasked with leading his team on and off the football field in recent weeks.
“These past two weeks have been a mix of emotions for me,” Rivera said. “I am saddened by how hurt the Black Community is by what has transpired. I am proud of everyone who is on the right side of this fight against social injustice. I am eager to help in any way I can in making a difference. Lastly, I am honored to work at an organization with so many people who want to change our society for the better. Black Lives Matter. We can’t be afraid to say it. I will say it again. Black Lives Matter.”
