Two Texas teenagers were kicked off their local football team for protesting during the national anthem prior to a Friday night game.  The coach forced them to take off their uniform on the field in front of everyone.  The teens said they wanted to protest like Colin Kaepernick and the other football players. Both of these teens were cousins, but they both decided to protest a different way Larry McCullough, who is 18 years old, chose to kneel down while his younger cousin Cedric ingram Lewis, also known as “CJ” raised his fist in salute.  

These teens felt humiliated when the coach told them to strip down until they had all their uniforms and pads off in front of everyone.  They said they were just trying to show respect to the players who are also protesting.  The coach placed them in a Christian-based program so they wouldn’t have to go through things like that again. “Though many may disagree with me, this is what I believe and as an American I have that right,  I pray these young men across America can come to understand there is a right and wrong way to do things.”

The 18 year old teen McCullough said disrespecting the flag was not his intention.  He just wanted to show the respect, and everything that is going on in the NFL. McCullough felt like he needed to be a part of it. Lewis’ protest comes at a time professional football players in the NFL have taken knees or locked arms during the National Anthem, after President Donald Trump said at a political rally in Alabama that he’d like to see those players fired.