There were the cheerleaders, the novelty checks and the photo-ops, the boos for the visiting team and the pyrotechnically-enhanced entrance of the home team, strutting and preening for the cameras to the sounds of Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead”: “Middle America packed in / Came to see me in my black skin.”
And then there was one.
For the final “Star-Spangled Banner” of the Miami Dolphins’ forgettable season, wide receiver Kenny Stills took a knee alone—up to that point he had been joined by teammates Michael Thomas and Julius Thomas, both since lost to the injured-reserve list.