Raiders Jack Del Rio, Derek Carr talk about Colin Kaepernick National Anthem stance

Monday, just days after Coliln Kaepernick ignited a firestorm from his decision not to stand during the National Anthem before the 49ers preseason match-up with the Packers in San Francisco.

Kaepernick has explained his stance as being one against issues like racism and police brutality, which has cause some discussion, but the controversy has been in how he chose to take his stand -- by sitting.

Today following practice, Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio along with quarterback Derek Carr were asked about their feelings on Kaepernick's actions. This is what they had to say

Jack Del Rio:

"I've never had to address it," Del Rio said of his players standing for the National Anthem. "I've never come to a point where I've had to address it. It's always been understood; you stand at attention, you pay respect to our flag, our country, so it's kind of always been kind of an assumed thing. I never really had to talk about it."

"I think the best way to look at it is in America as individuals we all have freedoms and that's one of the things that make our country great. You may not always like or appreciate the fact that somebody else is expressing themselves. For us I think it's more about recognizing you're part of an organization and you represent our organization and our organization believes that you should pay respect to the flag. Save those individual decisions to express yourself on an individual forum. That's how we feel, in talking to Mark Davis, how the football team feels about it, how our organization feels about it, and that's right in line with my thinking about it as well."

"When you look the Raiders, you look at an organization that's historically been at the forefront of civil rights, and social movements. We hired the first African American head coach, hired the first Latino American head coach, hired the first female in the front office. So, I think clearly the Raiders organization has always been at the forefront of that. But, our organization believes that you should act as a good teammate and a good organizational member and do the right thing."

Derek Carr:

"Actually this past offseason I've texted Colin, he called me back, we've talked," Carr said. "Colin's a great guy. He's been a great guy to me and that's the only way I can base it off of is to me he's been awesome. Nothing but genuine and nice and kind, very friendly to me.

"My whole stance on it is obviously we have the freedom to do as choose and that's just the way he's choosing to do certain things. For me, I've had some family that were in the military and things like that so I'll always stand to just respect it. But if he wants to do it a certain way, he has that right to choose what he wants to do whether people agree or not, he doesn't care, he's standing up for something he believes in. But for me, I'll stand. I'll stand when [the National Anthem plays].

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