--- title: Cheerleader Takes Knee During National Anthem at 49ers Game description: An NFL cheerleader kneeled during the National Anthem before the San Francisco 49ers beat the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night. canonical: https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-02T14:30:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:12.394Z og:title: San Francisco 49ers Cheerleader Takes a Knee During National Anthem og:description: Here's what we know so far og:url: https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: San Francisco 49ers Cheerleader Takes a Knee During National Anthem twitter:description: Here's what we know so far twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # San Francisco 49ers Cheerleader Takes a Knee During National Anthem > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: The NFL’s National Anthem Non-Policy [Watch (HLS stream): The NFL’s National Anthem Non-Policy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IB6HsmNQ.m3u8) (3:22)  _Published 2018-09-12. New Nike ad featuring Kaepernick puts the NFL in an awkward spot._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 2, 2018 2:30 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 2, 2018 2:30 PM UTC An [NFL](http://time.com/5364093/trump-nfl-players-define-kneeling-national-anthem-protests/) cheerleader kneeled during the [National Anthem](http://time.com/5430336/amy-shumer-super-bowl-maroon-5-colin-kaepernick/) before the San Francisco 49ers beat the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night. NBC Bay Area’s Damian Trujillo reported on the moment at Levi’s Stadium and fans at home were quick to notice and capture the move. The cheerleader for the 49ers – who was still unidentified as of Friday morning – was the only member of her squad to take a knee. > [](https://twitter.com/newsdamian/status/1058152930082058240) She also appears to be the first [NFL cheerleader](https://www.elle.com/culture/a12786986/why-nfl-cheerleaders-dont-protest/) to kneel. And while she has not yet been vocal about her act, the stage she chose to make the statement is significant. Athletes have a long history of taking political action, and kneeling was a part of the [civil rights activism](http://time.com/4956014/history-anthem-protests-nfl/). Kneeling during the “Star Spangled Banner” started in August 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, a former quarterback for the 49ers, chose not to stand for the National Anthem. He said the action was meant to call attention to police brutality and racial inequality. Athletes across the country are still following in his lead. This may be a first for NFL cheerleaders, but it’s not for cheerleaders in general. ([Georgia Tech dancer Raianna Brown went viral](https://www.thecut.com/2017/09/georgia-tech-cheerleader-kneeling-nfl-kaepernick-raianna-brown.html) in 2017 for kneeling and linking up her arms at Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, one of a number of cheerleaders at the college level to kneel.) > [](https://twitter.com/freeSPIRIT%5F5678/status/911801140693659648) The NFL’s [National Anthem policy](https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/09/09/national-anthem-policy-hold-2018-nfl-season), which would have required players to stand for the Anthem or stay in the locker room, is currently on hold as the league negotiates with players. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/"},"headline":"San Francisco 49ers Cheerleader Takes a Knee During National Anthem","datePublished":"2018-11-02T14:30:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:12.394Z","description":"An NFL cheerleader kneeled during the National Anthem before the San Francisco 49ers beat the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night.","url":"https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/","keywords":["Newsfeed","NFL","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/","name":"San Francisco 49ers Cheerleader Takes a Knee During National Anthem"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The NFL’s National Anthem Non-Policy","description":"New Nike ad featuring Kaepernick puts the NFL in an awkward spot.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IB6HsmNQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-09-12T20:36:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IB6HsmNQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/","duration":"PT3M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5442913/san-francisco-49ers-cheerleader-takes-a-knee-during-national-anthem/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```