Robert Quinn on anthem protests: They were not to cause distraction

[Rampage]

Panthers safety Eric Reid said earlier this week that he will continue to kneel during the national anthem as a protest against social injustice. Robert Quinn was asked Thursday if he would continue with his protest despite playing on a team that discourages protests during the national anthem.

Quinn, who now plays for the Cowboys after a trade from the Dolphins in the offseason, has raised a fist during the national anthem since 2016 when he was with the Rams. The Cowboys are one of the few teams never to have had a player protest during the national anthem.

Quinn sounds as if he has made a decision.

“When this all started, the media took it and made it their own message, took away from the point we were trying to get across,” Quinn said, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. “People talked about it as disrespecting the flag, and they’re missing the message. It was not to cause distraction; it was to bring awareness to a situation that constantly gets thrown under the rug. So all we talk about now is war, killing and negativity. If all you talk about is negativity, guess what you’re going to bring into the world?

“One day I woke up and just said, ‘If you want to bring positivity into the world, you’ve got to find peace, love and happiness within yourself.’ If you live be peace, love and happiness, this can be a better world.”

Quinn then laughed.

“Y’all weren’t expecting that one, huh?” he said.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Newy Scruggs of NBC 5 on Sunday night that he and Quinn have not had a conversation about it.

“I think . . . our position is very clear, and it will remain clear,” Jones told Scruggs. “We want to recognize the social issues that Robert wants to make people aware of. We want to recognize those, but the Cowboys stand for the flag when we get ready to play football.”