Kim Pegula has her reasons for standing for the national anthem.
The co-owner of the Buffalo Bills made her stance clear that she will be standing for the national anthem, but she supports her players’ right to choose.
“Personally, I’m not going to kneel,” she told One Bills Live. “Honestly, that’s how I feel. I will be standing, but that’s my choice. That’s my right. I would hope that the players as well respect that, just like I’m going to respect them for what they want to do if they so choose to.”
Pegula further explained her reasoning.
“I think and I would hope that our players or anybody would understand that if I’m standing, that does not mean I am … for racism,” she added. “Certainly, it’s not. And the same goes for our players. If they choose to kneel, or whoever wants to protest, I don’t think it’s because they don’t love the country or they don’t respect our military or any of that.”
“In some ways we’ve come a long ways, in other ways it’s been very slow,” she said. “I think if you talk to the black community, they would say, ‘Listen, it’s been hundreds of years and we’re still in this place.’ This time around, people are listening more. Whether it’s deliberate or whether it’s just a part of where we are in our world, we’re listening more and our hearts and our ears are a little bit more open than maybe they were three years ago.”
The Bills, coming off a playoff appearance in 2019, are set to open the 2020 season on Sept. 13 against the New York Jets.
