Bengals and Chargers to hold moment of unity before Sunday's game, plan to lock arms during national anthem

Bengals and Chargers to hold moment of unity during national anthem

CINCINNATI — The Bengals and Chargers plan to hold a moment of unity before Sunday's game at Paul Brown Stadium according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. 

The two teams plan to lock arms during the "Star-Spangled Banner" and during the playing of the "Black national anthem," which is the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It's being played before every Week 1 NFL game.  

From @NFLGameDay: Teams responses to the anthems will vary today, from the #Dolphins staying in the locker room to the #Lions respecting whatever choices players individually make to the #Chargers and #Bengals doing a moment of unity. pic.twitter.com/UW83rUmO9h

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 13, 2020

The Bengals met as a team earlier this week to discuss what they were going to do as a team. 

"There is a plan and you guys will find out on Sunday like everybody else," cornerback Mackensie Alexander said. 

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has made it clear that he backs his players, but he's hoping they can make that decision together.

"We’re supportive of each other," Taylor said. "Everyone has a different background. Everyone has a different reasoning for things. We’ve talked in-depth as a team. It was very emotional meetings and we’re not even complete with those yet. We’ll keep those to ourselves, but again, we want to be unified in our approach and supportive of everybody in this organization."

The Chiefs and Texans held a moment of unity before their game on Thursday night. There were nearly 16,000 fans in attendance. Some of them booed. 

That won't be the case on Sunday. Fans aren't allowed to attend Joe Burrow's debut at Paul Brown Stadium. 

It's unclear if the moment of unity will be televised. 

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