Adrian Peterson will ‘without a doubt’ kneel during anthem

Redskins running back Adrian Peterson says he will “without a doubt” take a knee during the national anthem this upcoming NFL season to protest racial injustice – and he doesn’t expect to be the only one.

“Just four years ago, you’re seeing [Colin] Kaepernick taking a knee, and now we’re all getting ready to take a knee together going into this season, without a doubt,” Peterson told the Houston Chronicle on Friday.

When he was asked to clarify if he personally plans to take a knee, Peterson said, “Yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt.”

“We’ve got to put the effort in as a group collectively,” he continued. “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 what it needs to be.”

The 35-year-old Peterson — who ran for 898 yards and five touchdowns last season — made the comments while discussing Saints quarterback Drew Brees’ highly scrutinized comments last week that players who knelt during the anthem were “disrespecting the flag.” Brees, who was Peterson’s teammate in New Orleans in 2017, later apologized after members of the Saints and other NFL players around the league criticized his stance.

Amid the nationwide racial injustice protests that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police, several prominent black NFL players created a video calling on the league to condemn racism and admit fault in previous attempts to silence players’ peaceful protests. Many players have also taken part in the protests.

Commissioner Roger Goodell answered with his own video and admitted the league was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all players to speak out and peacefully protest.”