Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie pushed back against Donald Trump on Saturday night following calls from the President of The United States on Friday for NFL owners to 'fire' players who kneel in protest during the National Anthem.
Trump's comments drew the ire of NFL players and professional athletes alike on Saturday.
During a campaign style rally in support of Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange in Huntsville, Ala., Trump called for owners across the league to "fire" any player -- a "son of a bitch" -- who knelt during the anthem.
"Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now? Out. He's fired. He's fired!'" Trump said.
Lurie's comments fall in line with his previous support of Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, defensive end Chris Long, and players across the league protesting and advocating for criminal justice reform and the eradication of social injustice.
"Social injustice is a big problem in America," Lurie said earlier this month. "It's a big problem around the globe. Anybody who wants to do proactive things to try to reverse social injustice, I'm all in favor of. It has to be respectful. It certainly has to respect the military and the men and women who serve our country. Emergency responders. Whoever that is. If you do it in a respectful way.
"I applaud anybody that can find respectful ways of trying to find their platform in some way. We all need to discuss social injustice. We've all seen it. It's multiple issues. It's not simple racial issues. There's a lot of economic issues. Players have grit and determination, there's no boundary on how that grit and determination gets expressed. Sports is an opportunity to bring people together. I applaud when players can bring communities together. We see it all the time. I think it's great."
Matt Lombardo may be reached at MLombardo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardoPHL.