CCHS coach: Players won't take a knee

Central Catholic High School football coach Tommy Minton says that the national anthem protests during recent NFL games haven’t affected his players.
“None of my players are going to take a knee,” Minton said.
“Even if they wanted to, I don’t want them to disrespect veterans.”
Minton said he approached his players earlier this week before a practice to have an open dialogue conversation about the controversy but a majority of his players had already personally chosen to not kneel.
“My team is a close team. They already know that if an issue arises or if they feel like something is unfair or unjust, we sit down and talk about it,” said Minton. “We have built a culture of cooperation and respect.”
Minton, who is the son of a military veteran with over 20 years in service, feels that the national anthem should be taken seriously out of respect for men and women who have died fighting for the country.
“I respect (the NFL players’) right to protest and I understand why they feel that they have to, but I don’t like the way they protest,” said Minton.
Minton feels that the protests should be done in other ways such as marches on state capital buildings or on the Capital building in Washington, D.C.
Minton said he will always have conversations with his team in times of controversy because his job as a coach is not always about winning but building his players up to be better men, fathers, husbands outside of the locker room who have discipline and respect.