Former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 national anthem protests would have caused serious tension in his locker room. Speaking on OutKick’s “The Craig Carton Show”, Urlacher argued that teams must avoid racial and political divisions to work effectively, while acknowledging that disagreements between teammates are usually resolved quickly.

Urlacher said Kaepernick’s protests would have crossed a personal “line in the sand” and claimed they led him and his wife to stop watching professional football for roughly two to three years. Kaepernick began kneeling during the anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality, making the issue a major point of debate across the NFL and wider American society.