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Tennessee Titans' Rishard Matthews Refutes Earlier Assertion That He'd Quit The NFL If Made To Stand During Anthem

"That was an ignorant thing I tweeted out at that given moment," he says.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews is backtracking a tweet he made earlier this week in which he said he’d be “done playing football” if the NFL forced him to stand during the national anthem.

During an interview with Paul Kuharsky of paulkuharsky.com, Matthews says he regrets making the public statement and let his emotions get the best of him.

“Not right now,” he said when asked about the tweet. “Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that. I know the owners have got a meeting next weekend, so hopefully it won’t get to that.

“Sometimes people, as you all know, tweet some ignorant things out at some moments, and that was an ignorant thing I tweeted out at that given moment. I take full responsibility. That’s why it went down [was deleted], but somebody caught me with a screen shot.”

On Thursday (October 12) the sixth-year player tweeted “I would be done playing football” in response to a tweet asking him how a kneeling ban would affect his willingness to remain an NFL player. Apparently, after thinking about it longer, he’s not willing to take the rather bold stance.

“I’m a man, and sometimes you make bad decisions at the wrong time,” Matthews said. “And at that time, I made a bad decision to tweet that out at that given moment.”

Ever since Donald Trump made his explicit comments about the NFL and its players kneeling for the anthem, Matthews has remained in the locker room for the pre-game tradition. He’s also been one of the few outspoken players about the protests, and last month, donated $75,000 to “organizations working in oppressed communities.”

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