As the national anthem played before Friday night’s game, Watkins Mill football players took their stand with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick by taking a knee on the Gaithersburg High sideline. It was a scene that has become increasingly familiar at professional and scholastic athletic events, though not yet in Montgomery County. Watkins Mill Coach Mike Brown said one of the players asked him for permission before the game and he responded, “the choice is yours.”“I said, ‘Think about what you’re doing. Watkins Mill Athletic Director Reggie Spears estimated more than 70 percent of the football team is African American. “I look at it as a way to maybe introduce the topic of discussion with these kids,” Spears said.

Source: Washington Post September 10, 2016 21:45 UTC