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LeSean McCoy continues stretching while national anthem is going on

On Sunday, practically every NFL player’s actions during the national anthem were watched and analyzed. Some sat. Some kneeled. Others locked arms. The Pittsburgh Steelers mostly stayed in the locker room.

Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy had perhaps the most unusual reaction to the anthem. He stretched like nothing was going on. The video is via Jenna Cottrell of WHAM.

McCoy made some news after President Donald Trump said players who kneel should be fired, when he criticized Trump by calling him an expletive on Twitter.

McCoy had been critical of Colin Kaepernick and his anthem protest recently, and he explained his actions after the game (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com):

“At the end of the day, man, the good thing about this country is you can do what you want,” McCoy said. “The freedom to express yourself. I felt that, hey, if that’s something he wanted to do, that’s perfectly fine. At the time, I thought I wouldn’t do something like that, but then when you hear different remarks and comments from our leader, from our president, of the United States, this is a great country, people strive hard to get over here, they do a lot of different things to get over here for a reason, when your leader, your president makes different comments, it’s hard for me to respect and try to represent something that I don’t believe in.”

His disinterested show during the anthem sent a statement of its own. It was certainly unique on a day in which many NFL players were certainly aware everyone was watching them just before the game.

LeSean McCoy (25) continued to stretch during the national anthem on Sunday. (AP)
LeSean McCoy (25) continued to stretch during the national anthem on Sunday. (AP)

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!