The Seahawks and Falcons took a knee on the field following the opening kickoff of Sunday's game while the ball rolled into the end zone for a touchback, and Falcons Owner Arthur Blank said it was a “beautiful thing to see the way it developed” throughout the week. Blank during an appearance on CNBC said Falcons QB Matt Ryan and Seahawks QB Russell Wilson started “probably a week-and-a-half ago, maybe two weeks ago, talking about how they wanted to share the voices of their teammates and share the voices, in many cases, of America.” Blank said he was aware of the plans throughout the planning process and was supportive of them. He noted NFL games are typically more than three hours long and said it was OK if players take “three, four, five minutes at most at the beginning of the game to express the passions of these players and the passions of what’s really on the mind of most people across America.” Blank: “They want to bring attention to these things, and I think they did it in a very respectful way that represents the best of protest.” Blank downplayed criticism of fans claiming politics do not mix with football, saying, “It’s an important part of who we are as the country. The ability to protest has always been important in terms of making changes. It’s important to move from protest to progress, and the NFL has made that clear on a national level” ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 9/14).
