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Prescott: ‘I knew there’d be backlash’ to anthem comments

Dak Prescott stood by his initial comments on national anthem protests, saying he may have "misunderstood" by some that were angered by them.

OXNARD, Calif. – Dak Prescott isn’t fazed by the wide-ranging reaction to his comment that the national anthem “isn’t the time or venue” for protest.

“When I made my statements I knew there’d be backlash,” he told reporters Sunday in Oxnard, Calif.

During Prescott’s first session with the media on July 27, he took his firmest stance yet on the topic of player protests of social injustice during the national anthem. He said that, while he respects other players’ rights, he “would never protest during the anthem.”

"When you bring such controversy to the stadium, to the field, it takes away from the love that football brings to a lot of people,” he said.

He added that he’s aware of social injustice in America, but that he believes it’s time for “action that we can do, rather than the silent protests.”

The backlash to those comments has included a mural in Dallas depicting the third-year quarterback as the main character from Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Prescott was asked about the mural, which has since been altered, Sunday.

“Everyone’s entitled to an opinion,” he said.

Trey Wilder, the artist who created the mural, hoped the mural would be “a flash” for the Cowboys’ quarterback.

“Like in the movie, maybe [the piece] will be a flash for him,” he told the Star-Telegram. “I think, with that platform, it was just weird how he dismissed the whole situation, especially being a black man himself.”

Prescott on Sunday stood by his initial comments, saying those who were angered by them may have “misunderstood” him.

"I made my statements. I stand by what I said," Prescott said. "Some people might have misunderstood or whatever, but I know what I said, and I feel strongly about what I said. It is what it is."

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