NFL players weren't the only ones who were protesting racial injustice by kneeling for the national anthem on Sunday. Two singers also got involved in the protest while singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at games in Detroit and Nashville.
The first protest from a singer came in Detroit from local artist from Rico LaVelle, who belted out the anthem before the Lions game against the Falcons. Although LaVelle stood for most of the national anthem, he took a knee and raised his fist before singing the last word, "Brave."
You can see the last 20 seconds of LaVelle's rendition of the anthem below, which includes the part where he takes a knee.
The national anthem in Detroit ended on one knee pic.twitter.com/7Fi3wSjHSb
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 24, 2017
Roughly three hours after LaVelle's protest, another singer decided to take a knee in Nashville.
This time it was Meghan Linsey, who sang the national anthem before the Titans' game against the Seahawks. Linsey, who was a contestant on the eighth season of "The Voice," took a knee with her guitarist, Tyler Cain, as she sang the last note of the song.
You can see Linsey's entire performance below.
Both the Titans & Seahawks remained in their locker rooms during the national anthem while the singer took a knee during her performance. pic.twitter.com/zeBQhYbKPN
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 24, 2017
Although Linsey had long known that she would be singing the national anthem on Sunday, she didn't make a decision on taking a knee until she heard Donald Trump's controversial comments over the weekend.
"Until [Saturday], I didn't even think about it that much," Linsey told Yahoo Music on Sunday. "Then I was thinking about the things that [Trump] said [Friday night], and I thought, 'Man, it really does need to be addressed, and I think I'm in a position to take a stand and hopefully make a difference.'"
At that point, Linsey decided that she would take a stand by kneeling.
"I have a lot of African-American friends, and they can't stand alone," Linsey said. "I couldn't have gone out there and not done anything and felt good about it, because I have always built this platform on empowerment and loving people -- whatever color, whatever sexual orientation ... You're making a choice when you walk out there, however you handle it. If you don't take a knee, it's like, what do you stand for? For me, anything else wasn't an option."
Although many players were booed for kneeling on Sunday, Linsey stressed that her decision to kneel had nothing to do with disrespect for the flag or being unpatriotic.
"I love America," Linsey said. "I'm not unpatriotic. I appreciate our men and women in uniform. That's not the issue. I think the issue is the things that are happening around us with racism, and Trump will come out and openly condemn NFL players for peacefully protesting, but then these white national terrorists bring their tiki torches and cause this violence, and then he has nothing to say. It was important to me to stand with [African-Americans]."
One thing Linsey had to deal with on Sunday that most anthem singers don't have to deal with is the fact that she had to sing on a mostly empty field. Before the game, the Seahawks and Titans both decided they would be going to their locker rooms for the national anthem, which left Linsey on her own.
"That made it a little more scarier, I guess, that nobody was out there doing it with me," Linsey said. "And I hadn't planned for this. But it was obviously just meant to be that I was there in this moment, and given this opportunity."
For a recap of everything that's happened since Donald Trump made his controversial comments on Friday, and for a a look at how all teams decided to protest on Sunday, be sure to click here and read this.
