NAPA, Calif. -- Still surprised that Marshawn Lynch chose to stay seated during the national anthem before the Oakland Raiders' preseason opener at the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday?
You should not be.
Think Lynch's taking a page from Colin Kaepernick’s protest book from a year ago is going to be a locker room and front-office distraction?
Think again.
Oakland coach Jack Del Rio said Lynch told him he has been sitting for the anthem for 11 years (though Lynch has been seen standing), and these are still the anti-establishment Raiders, whose owner, Mark Davis, had Tommie Smith light the Al Davis Torch in Mexico City in November.
Davis told ESPN.com last year that he wrestled with the decision to have Smith, whose black-gloved-raised-fist salute with John Carlos on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics remains a seminal moment in the civil rights movement, honor his father in the wake of Kaepernick's protest.
Although Mark Davis has said in the past -- most recently at the Raiders’ 2016 game in Mexico City -- that he prefers any protests by Raiders players be done out of uniform, Davis said there would be no punishment if players did participate in such actions.
“The contradiction was weighing on me,” Davis said at the time. “I mean, I've got Tommie Smith lighting the torch, but I didn't want the players protesting the flag or anthem?”
Davis talked with team leaders Derek Carr and Khalil Mack to let them know what he was thinking of doing.
Lynch's sitting on a cooler, holding a banana, ignoring the anthem on the sideline might tweak Del Rio, who insisted it isn't an issue after he said he “very strongly” believes in standing for the anthem. Lynch's sitting could be a pebble in Davis’ shoe.
But given the history of the franchise and how it has been at the forefront of social issues -- Tom Flores was the first Latino professional quarterback before he became the first minority coach to win a Super Bowl, Art Shell was the first African-American head coach in modern NFL history, and Amy Trask was the first female CEO -- you’d half-expect the Raiders to sign Kaepernick ... if they didn't already have Carr, EJ Manuel and Connor Cook.
“I’m going to respect you as a man,” Del Rio said he told Lynch after the game. And yes, Lynch's sitting was a surprise to the team. “You do your thing, and we’ll do ours.”
Lynch was long gone from the Raiders' locker room by the time media descended upon it Saturday night. But the running back, who was retired last season when Kaepernick began his protest against racism and police brutality, spoke on the topic in September on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show.
“With what’s going on, I’d rather see [Kaepernick] take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered,” a demonstrative Lynch said at the time. “So I mean, my take on it is [it’s] got to start somewhere. If that was the starting point, I just hope people open up their eyes to see that there’s really a problem going on and something needs to be done for it to stop. And I mean, if you’re really not racist, then you won’t see what [Kaepernick has] done, what he’s doing, as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have.”
Compare Lynch’s year-old stance with what Davis said in the fall.
“The Raiders have always stood for diversity and rights,” Davis told me, “but I just don't think they should protest while in uniform. This is not a police state. If there was an issue, come talk to me. Hell, I may go and stand up there with them.
“My dad always said, 'I'd rather be right than consistent.'”