Last season http://www.saintsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-rick-leonard-jersey , the Seattle Seahawks led the league when it came to the number of players willing to make a statement while the national anthem played.

To start this season, that wave of Seahawks has dwindled to only two players.

Linemen Duane Brown and Quinton Jefferson walked off the field and waited in the tunnel while a field-sized American flag was unfurled and the national anthem played before their season opener Sunday in Denver.

In a league where more than 200 players once took some sort of action to protest police brutality and social injustice in America during the anthem, The Associated Press counted fewer than 10 across the league who did so on the NFL's opening Sunday. Only two of them 鈥?Albert Wilson and Kenny Stills of the Dolphins 鈥?kneeled while the "Star-Spangled Banner" played.

None of which bothered Brown much. He says he's committed to what he's doing.

"I made my decision," he said. "That was my decision. I wasn't paying attention to what other teams or other players are doing."

The lower numbers might reflect a new strategy many players are embracing to draw attention to the issues Colin Kaepernick raised when he began kneeling for the anthem in 2016. The then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback was looking to shine a light on issues impacting African American communities.

Since then, a group of NFL players have formed the Players Coalition . They want to move the focus away from the anthem, which has become a lightning rod, in part because of President Donald Trump's continued criticism of players who don't stand during the anthem.

"We're trying to move past the rhetoric of what's right or what's wrong in terms of the anthem, and really focus on the systematic issues that are plaguing our communities," said Malcolm Jenkins of the Eagles, one of the group's co-founders, who is no longer protesting during the anthem.

And yet, if Kaepernick is on board with all of that, it wasn't clear Sunday. He took to twitter to praise Wilson and Stiles .

"My Brothers (Stills) and (Wilson) continue to show their unwavering strength by fighting for the oppressed," Kaepernick said in his tweet. "They have not backed down, even when attacked and intimidated. ... Love is at the root of our resistance."

Kaepernick's message got through to his friends in Miami.

"I know he has our back," Stills said. "Really, there has been a huge difference between when we first started protesting and now. A lot of people are reaching out and supporting us, so I really appreciate that. To everybody out there ... let's keep doing our best to make positive change and have these conversations and make our country a better place."

Since opting out of his contract after 2016, Kaepernick has been unable to land a job with an NFL team and is suing the league for collusion.

But his voice is still being heard. Last week, Nike introduced an ad featuring the quarterback and his message: "Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything."

Other than Stills, Wilson and the two Seahawks, Dolphins defensive lineman Robert Quinn raised his fist during the anthem. Niners receiver Marquise Goodwin did the same at San Francisco's game at Minnesota. In Los Angeles, Chargers left tackle Russell Okung raised his fist. And back in Denver, Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas and linebacker Brandon Marshall retreated to their tunnel while the anthem played.

Marshall sent out a statement touting a charity designed to help people who are on the verge of homelessness.

"It is time that we build social currency by way of empowering our future generations Youth Taron Johnson Jersey ," Marshall said. "This begins by addressing the most fundamental needs 鈥?by feeding the minds and bodies."

This came hours after Trump opened the day with a tweet that took digs at the NFL, linking low ratings for Thursday night's opener between Atlanta and Philadelphia (lowest for an opener since 2008) to players who refuse to stand for the anthem.

"If the players stood proudly for our Flag and Anthem, and it is all shown on broadcast, maybe ratings could come back? Otherwise worse!" he tweeted.

CBS and Fox, which carried Sunday afternoon's games, did not televise the anthem.

However, NBC did show the anthem Thursday night (but not before Sunday night's Bears-Packers game), and no players kneeled or protested in other ways.

But while the tumult over the anthem appears to be dying down, the NFL still hasn't collaborated with the players union to come up with a definitive solution.

In May, the league briefly put a policy in place, but rescinded it after the union filed a grievance. The union and league are still negotiating. Brown, of the Seahawks, said he has not received any message from the union to tamp down the protest.

"I don't think that would be the best idea to try to get people to move on from it," he said. "The country hasn't moved on from it, so I'm not going to move on from it either."

Raised in upstate New York, Chad Brown didn't root for the Bills, the Giants or the Jets when it came to football.

The 39-year-old from Mechanicville was a San Francisco 49ers fan. It was simple. He liked future Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, although football didn't turn out to be Brown's sport.

Brown has become one of thoroughbred racing's top trainers, and his favorite football team now is the New England Patriots. It has nothing to do with Tom Brady.

It's all about Gronkowski, both of them. He likes tight end Rob and the 3-year-old colt named after him who will be a fan favorite Saturday in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes.

Whether Gronkowski can challenge Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify and prevent him from becoming the sport's 13th Triple Crown winner remains to be seen.

The name of the horse adds interest to the final jewel of the Triple Crown, of course.

"It works for him," Brown said of the name. "He is going to pick up a few extra fans and that feels good. I am happy people are rooting for him because of his name."

The Kentucky-bred colt has never raced in North America. He has had six starts in England, winning four races and finishing second once. An illness forced him to skip the Kentucky Derby.

Phoenix Thoroughbred Limited, the owners of Gronkowski, decided after the Derby to move the colt out of the barn of Jeremy Noseda in mid-May. Brown has spent the last three-plus weeks getting the colt ready to run again.

While Gronkowski arrived in good condition and has trained extremely well http://www.eaglesauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-sweat-jersey , Brown would have preferred a little more training time.

"If the horse has enough foundation behind him, he is the kind of a horse that can run a mile and a half on the dirt," Brown said Thursday after Gronkowski galloped. "Is he ready for Saturday? We'll see."

Brown said the owners of Gronkowski gave him the option of skipping the Belmont if he felt the colt was not ready. He elected to run.

Brown has an idea what will happen in the race. Gronkowski will run a little behind the leaders and grind out the first 1录 miles. It's the last quarter that's a concern for a colt that has never run longer than a mile in a race.

"This was a very unique situation," Brown said. "This was a horse that was on the Derby trail and then off, and now here on short notice. It really takes a special horse to be able to catch up to speed and be able to run in a race like Saturday. Based on what I have seen so far, I do feel like he is up to it."

Rob Gronkowski, who is a part owner of the colt, is expected to attend. He's also excited.

"It's pretty wild," Gronkowski said Tuesday after a Patriots practice. "I heard about the horse like a year ago and I saw it, and I was like 'that's cool,' you know? Then all of a sudden it's like the horse is in the Kentucky Derby a year later. So it's pretty wild. It's a pretty cool scenario. Pretty cool situation. It just shows, name the horse my name and it's going to make it, baby."

Besides Gronkowski the horse, Brown also had another runner in his barn partially owned by three former or current Patriots. He has gotten the chance to sit down with Patriots coach Bill Belichick to discuss how their jobs are similar and how they manage elite athletes and people on their staffs.

"I have asked him for advice, particularly on leadership, winning, and how to get the most out of people," said Brown, who has 165 employees and 230 horses in his barn. "I find him to be and (have) great admiration for him now that I have had a couple of chances to really sit down with coach and pick his brain. I find him to be really brilliant, a deep thinker and very reserved and calculated about what he says or does. He has enormous experience how to get the most out of people."

For Brown, this is a week in which he will discover just how much he got out of Gronkowski. At worst, it will be a learning experience. At best, Gronk scores big and upsets Justify's Triple Crown hopes.