Cardinals' Kenyan Drake says he'll kneel during national anthem alongside Kyler Murray

Racial justice is 'something that we all need to stand up for,' the running back said

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray recently pledged to kneel during the national anthem in 2020 to "stand for what's right" and protest racial injustice in America. Now, he's got at least one teammate who plans to do the same. Appearing on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" Friday, Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake said he'll be kneeling alongside Murray in a gesture of solidarity with the Black community.

"Obviously I respect him, and I'll be right next to him doing the same thing," Drake explained. "(Earlier) when I was in the league and (Colin) Kaepernick was leading the charge, (there) was a lot of backlash, and I personally feel disappointed for not stepping out on a limb and doing something that I felt like would be important to do ... But now, I mean ... It's something that we all need to stand up for and, I guess, in a sense, take a knee for."

Drake, who broke out as the Cardinals' lead back after joining the team via trade in October, said that he had similar thoughts while playing for the Miami Dolphins starting in 2016. Several teammates, including Arian Foster and Kenny Stills, even joined Kaepernick, who then played for the San Francisco 49ers, in kneeling during the anthem to protest injustice. At the time, he said, he hesitated because he wanted to tackle the issues as a team rather than an individual protester, but still understood Kaepernick's intentions.

"It's always been about police brutality," Drake said. "It's always been about what's right and what's wrong."

Earlier this week, Murray used part of a conference call with media to address the country's race relations, telling reporters he plans to kneel to continue the dialogue about systemic racism.

A growing number of players have recently committed to doing the same. Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson was the first player to publicly announce he'll kneel in 2020, but others, including Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, have since followed suit. Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien has also said he'll kneel alongside players, while some believe NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who publicly encouraged players to peacefully protest this offseason, could join the movement.