Adrian Peterson says he will kneel during anthem next season

The former Minnesota Vikings running back shared his plan to spread awareness in 2020.

At 35-years-old, former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson no longer gets to decide if he wants to be a leader or not. Currently with the Washington Redskins, Peterson’s teammates are going to look up to him and ask for his advice for the remainder of his time in the NFL.

On Friday, the former Vikings running back was asked about the recent death of George Floyd and what kind of impact it’s had on his life.

Peterson shared the difficulty he’s had when it comes to explaining to his children what happened and he also revealed what he and his teammates are planning to do during the upcoming season in response to the latest African-American life lost as a result of police brutality.

Former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson plans to kneel during the 2020 season.

Compared to when players in the NFL like Colin Kaepernick made the original decision to kneel during the national anthem back in 2016, it sounds like a much larger portion of the league will be doing something similar during the upcoming season. This larger portion will include Peterson according to the running back on Friday.

“Without a doubt,” the former Minnesota running back declared when asked by KTRK Houston’s Greg Bailey if he will be kneeling during the national anthem this year. Peterson also added that he and his teammates are, “all getting ready to take a knee together.”

Fear isn’t going to prevent him from making this statement on the field with his teammates either. “Are they going to try to punish us all? If not playing football is going to help us save lives and change things, then that’s just what it has to be,” said Peterson when asked about the potential of punishment from his decision to kneel.

This isn’t the first time Peterson has used the national anthem to bring awareness to issues taking place in the United States. Back in 2017 when he was a member of the New Orleans Saints, the veteran running back decided to remain seated during the anthem of his team’s Week 3 matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

Despite some of the criticisms Peterson and others might receive when kneeling during the anthem this year, nothing is going to stop them from doing something they feel is necessary to help create change when it comes to issues of racism and police brutality throughout the country.