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Just two days after the President of the United States said that any player who kneels in protest during the national anthem is a "son of a bitch" who should be fired, C.J. Mosley was one of the many who defiantly took a knee. He was joined by several Baltimore Ravens teammates before a game in London three years ago, and they had the "100 percent" support of the Ravens owner.
Now, three years later with momentum growing towards more NFL protests, Mosley -- now a linebacker with the Jets -- isn't ready to say if he's planning to take a knee again.
"I'm not sure," he said during a video call with the media on Wednesday. "I feel that as a team, as a leader, I need to talk to my teammates first, I need to talk to Coach Gase first and I need to talk to the owner first."
The idea of NFL players kneeling during the anthem has resurfaced seemingly stronger than ever in the wake of a national uprising in protest of the killing of George Floyd and police brutality in general. The protest that began with Colin Kaepernick in 2016 was mostly discouraged by the NFL and most of its individual team owners.
Last week, though, under pressure from his players, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted "We were wrong" and he said the league would now "encourage" any players who chose to "peacefully protest" in any way.
There is an expectation that many, if not most NFL players -- particularly African-American players -- will do just that and take a knee for the national anthem on opening weekend this September. Meanwhile, as protests continue around the country, many coaches and owners have been addressing social justice issues with their teams and listening to their players over the last two weeks.
CEO Christopher Johnson joined the Jets' team meeting last week and even gave players his personal cell phone number, Mosley said, just in case any of them wanted to talk.
"He expressed his concerns and pretty much let us know anything we needed, he was there to help," Mosley said. "He gave out his personal info and said anybody who wants to call, anybody who wants to get together to work something out. That meant a lot to me and I'm pretty sure to everybody else."
Mosley said he believes that the NFL has handled the aftermath of the killing of Floyd and the resulting protests "well … for the most part." His hope is that the league and players can move beyond their past and work together to build a better future for everyone.
"At the end of the day it's about the end goal: Where can we go from here?" Mosley said. "We've been through this situation already. The things that happened, happened. I hope this year, going forward, we can make ourselves better. I hope the NFL, the players association and players all work together to help this cause."
As for whether a kneeling protest will be part of that cause, Mosley was noncommittal. He admitted the protest, and the discussion before and after, was a distraction for the Ravens three years ago, especially in the locker room before the first game they did it. He believes the players, coaches, owners and league officials all need to have an honest conversation about what the right thing is to do next.
"That's something we have to do," Mosley said. "Some guys will definitely want to kneel. Some guys won't. I hope the NFL and the owners can look back at that situation and make sure we all handle it the right way. I would think the NFL and owners and coaches will have our back 100 percent, full support. We have to have that conversation to see where everybody's mindset is."