UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Lamont Wade stared into a camera and looking up from his phone delivered a message of support to those protesting the national anthem and those, like himself, who are standing by Colin Kaepernick.
"The white ... it signifies purity and innocence," Wade said in his nearly 5-minute monologue titled 'Who's really disrespecting the flag?' "Innocence ... like Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Mike Brown or Philando Castile?"
After President Donald Trump's criticism of NFL players who chose to take a knee for the national anthem in protest of inequalities, the Lions' five-star cornerback released his video. In the description of the video Wade put that "Soon as I head [sic] Trump's comments on these "sons of bitches" I immediately had to say my part because I wouldn't feel right If I didn't do so."
The video appeared on the cornerback's YouTube page on Sunday, hours after the Lions returned to campus after beating Iowa. It's since been viewed more than 4,600 times and was retweeted more than 300 times, including by teammate and Heisman Trophy candidate Saquon Barkley.
Franklin said multiple times that he won't shield his players from what's happening in the world around them and last season when talks about anthem protests started it's something the team discussed at length several times during their bye week.
AGAIN, Penn State is an inclusive university and promotes diversity. WE MUST DENOUNCE THESE HATE GROUPS
— Sterling Jenkins (@S_Jenkins76) September 22, 2017