Former professional football star Herschel Walker on Wednesday said he backs the National Football League's policy mandating players to stand during the national anthem if they come onto the field, The Hill reports.
"My feeling on the anthem is I felt they should have been standing at the beginning," said Walker during a visit to the White House for President Donald Trump's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
Walker is the co-chairman of the council.
NFL owners approved the new policy Wednesday at their spring meeting in Atlanta, but the decision was met with skepticism by the players' union. The issue was highly publicized last September following Trump's comments that NFL owners should fire players who kneel during the anthem.
"We want people to be respectful of the national anthem," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week. "We want people to stand. That's all personnel, and to make sure they treat this moment in a respectful fashion. That's something that we think we owe. We've been very sensitive on making sure that we give players choices, but we do believe that moment is an important moment and one that we are going to focus on."
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