Saturday 10 September 2016 12:55, UK
A credit union claims to have ended its endorsement deal with Super Bowl winning linebacker Brandon Marshall following his decision to kneel during the national anthem prior to an NFL game.
In Thursday's first competitive game of the 2016 season, Denver's Marshall was the only player from either the Broncos or the Carolina Panthers not to stand while The Star-Spangled Banner played prior to kick-off.
Marshall was following the lead of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was the first to refuse to stand for the national anthem in pre-season games in a stance against perceived racial injustice, while 49ers team-mate Eric Reid and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane also staged similar demonstrations.
Now the Air Academy Federal Credit Union, based in the Broncos' state of Colorado, has announced that it has ended its "partnership" with Marshall after he was shown kneeling during the anthem in a game that was televised nationally during prime time in America.
In a quote attributed to president Glenn Strebe, a post on the group's Facebook page said: "Although we have enjoyed Brandon Marshall as our spokesperson over the past five months, Air Academy Federal Credit Union (AAFCU) has ended our partnership.
"AAFCU is a membership-based organisation who has proudly served the military community for over 60 years. While we respect Brandon's right of expression, his actions are not a representation of our organisation and membership. We wish Brandon well in his future endeavours."
Marshall was a former college team-mate of Kaepernick's at Nevada and had predicted a negative backlash from some quarters when he spoke to reporters after Denver's win over Carolina.
"The message is I'm against social injustice," Marshall said in quotes published on NFL.com.
"I'm not against the military or police or America at all. I'm against social injustice and I feel like this was the right thing to do.
"I feel like this is the right platform. This is our only platform to really be heard. I feel like a lot of times people want us to just shut up and entertain them, shut up and play football.
"But we have voices as well. We're actually educated individuals that went to college. So when we have an opinion and we speak it, I feel like a lot of people bash us for what we have to say."
The protests are expected to continue this weekend when the bulk of this slate of NFL games are played on Sunday, 15 years to the day since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Seattle Seahawks will host the Miami Dolphins in one of those fixtures and wide receiver Doug Baldwin has already revealed that the home side are planning to do something prior to kick-off.
"To express a desire to bring people together, our team will honour the country and flag in a pre-game demonstration of unity," he tweeted on Thursday.
