A movement spurred by San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem grows.
Although no Husker band members or cheerleaders knelt during Saturday’s game, there were fans spotted protesting.
The silent protest isn’t limited to college and professional games.
Six Central High School cheerleaders and several band members kneeled during the National Anthem at a football game Friday.
There were also three Huskers who knelt during a game last week.
Donna Hurst lost her son to violent crime in 2002.
While she says all lives matter, Hurst says kneeling during the National Anthem sheds light on recent cases of unarmed men shot and killed by police.
"Any young man or any person that kneels in respect to the fact that it should stop, I don't have a problem with that,” Hurst said. “I would kneel with them."
The protests are about bringing social injustice to light, not offending the military, Hurst said.
"My dad was a war veteran,” Hurst said. “I sang the national anthem. I know it's important for us to honor the flag, but honor starts here on our land."
Anyone who kneels during the National Anthem hurts veterans, said Marine combat veteran and former sheriff’s deputy Robert Blaha.
"I served in the Marine Corps and I served overseas,” Blaha said. “What was I doing over there? For what reason? I was there for the American people, for what I believe America stands for. It's a great concept, it's a great idea and it brought national attention. You got the message out, ok, it's over."
Blaha says while he doesn't completely disagree with kneeling during the National Anthem as a form of protest, he says it should at least spur coaches to teach the importance and meaning of the National Anthem.
“I'm hoping service members from the area along with police and firemen, I want those high school and college players to get to know those people,” Blaha said. “To find out what it actually means to sit during the National Anthem, get a concept of that. It's a concept they don't really grasp right now."
The cheerleaders who kneeled at the Central High School game Friday told the Omaha World-Herald they plan to kneel at future games and encourage other students and fans to do the same thing.
They say they weren't trying to offend veterans or the military, rather shed light on what they perceive as racial injustice across the U.S.
