Louisiana State University (LSU) football coach Brian Landry has backed Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s (R) push for a policy requiring student-athletes to be present during the national anthem.
It comes after the LSU’s women’s basketball team was criticized recently for not attending “The Star-Spangled Banner” before its game against Iowa last week.
In an interview with Fox News’ “America Reports” on April 3, Mr. Landry reiterated his remarks by saying that respecting the flag is just as important as the game itself.
“The national anthem is as much a part of American sports as is the actual game that’s being played. And the fact that there is not a policy, and it says, ‘Listen, these players are going to be out there and respect the flag and respect those that go out there and protect us,’ is really disrespectful in and of itself.”
Mr. Kelly backed the governor’s comments on Saturday but noted that the question remained whether athletes should be on the field or the floor for the national anthem.
“I saw it. I know everybody has had their comments about it. I know we put out a statement (LSU athletic director) Scott Woodward put out a statement as well. I think our football players would echo this—is that if, at any time, we’re required to be out there, we’ll be wherever we’re told to be. And that’s the bottom line. If our administration wants us out there for the national anthem, we’re going to stand proudly for the national anthem,” Mr. Kelly said via The Advertiser, as reported by Fox News.
“It’s just the way that it has been scripted. And I’ve been doing this for 33 years. On my hand, I can tell you how many times I’ve been out for the national anthem in 33 years. That’s not to say we’re against what the governor is saying,” Mr. Kelly continued.
Coach Kelly expressed solidarity with the governor’s views, adding that he stands by the LSU athletic director’s earlier remarks.
“I look back at the Army game and how proud we were of that moment to have Army in our stadium. What we did to that stadium to show our patriotism and patriotic backing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get past this pretty soon.”
Unintentional
After falling under scrutiny for missing the anthem, LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey apologized for the occurrence, referring to the incident as unintentional.
“Honestly, I don’t even know when the anthem was played. We kind of have a routine where they are on the floor and come off around the 12-minute mark, I don’t know, we come in and do our pre-game stuff. I’m sorry, there was nothing intentionally done,” Ms. Mulkey told reporters, per Fox News.
However, Mr. Landry pointed at a bigger problem in college sports that is underscored by teams’ absence during the national anthem.
“I’m not calling out the players or coach Mulkey. I support coach Mulkey. My statement said that … I think this is a bigger question, this is a bigger problem for collegiate sports nationally and in Louisiana. I just sent out a letter to each one of our college boards telling them that those college boards should put in place a policy that respects the national anthem,” the governor told Fox News.
“Everybody should respect the flag. If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to play the sport,” Mr. Landry went on to say. “College athletes need to understand that in order to be truly united. In order to truly have civics and civility, we all need to be united under one flag and respect that anthem.”
