Oakland Raiders Marshawn Lynch sits sitting during national anthem after voicing support for Colin Kaepernick

By ASSOCIATED PRESS | Source, The DailyMail

Marshawn Lynch of the Oakland Raiders was spotted sitting down for the national anthem ahead of his team’s 20-10 preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

In his first game in a Raiders uniform, Lynch sat on an orange cooler with a banana in his hand on Saturday night while others around him stood.

The ex-Seattle running back came out of retirement to sign with his hometown Raiders.

Although he rarely talks to the media, Lynch has voiced support for quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem last season to protest what he saw as a pattern of police mistreatment of people of color.

Lynch was gone from the locker room by the time reporters arrived following the game on Saturday night.

Coach Jack Del Rio said he spoke to him about the issue after the game.

‘He said, “This is something I’ve done for 11 years. It’s not a form of anything other than me being myself,”‘ Del Rio said.

The coach said that he told Lynch ‘just so you understand how I feel, I very strongly believe in standing for the national anthem but I’m going to respect you as a man. You do your thing.’

‘So that’s a non-issue for me,’ Del Rio said.

Quarterback E.J. Manuel said he didn’t know Lynch hadn’t stood for the anthem.

‘Obviously, we all support Marshawn because he’s part of our team, but I think that is more of a personal thing,’ Manuel said. ‘I can’t really comment on it too much.’

Arizona dominated the game in the first half, building a 17-3 lead.

Carson Palmer threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brittan Golden to cap his brief preseason debut, while Oakland quarterback Derek Carr watched the game from the sideline.

Palmer, at age 37 beginning his 15th NFL season, directed Arizona on a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to start the game.

It looked as if the Cardinals were headed for a short field goal, but the Raiders were called for covering the snapper on the kick, giving Arizona a first down and setting up its opening TD.

He would like to have played more than one series.

‘I thought I was going to get the first quarter,’ Palmer said. ‘That’s what (coach Bruce Arians) said last night at the team meeting. I missed a couple. I missed a long one to Jaron (Brown) and wanted to kind of redeem myself. I didn’t get that chance. I’ve got to wait until next week.’

Two of the Raiders’ top defensive players, All-Pro defensive end Khalil Mack and linebacker Bruce Irvin, joined Carr and Lynch as spectators.

While it was the preseason opener for Oakland, it was Arizona’s second outing. The Cardinals starters did not play in the team’s 20-18 loss to Dallas in the Hall of Fame Game.