While the Green Bay Packers took care of business in their game on Sunday, another element of the on-field festivities raised some eyebrows.
During the national anthem, the team used a red, white and blue banner. The banner had stars on the blue stripe.
“It’s not American, not American at all,” said Sandy Austin. “There are a lot of people who have quit the NFL because of the pre-game stuff and all that’s going on.”
In a statement, Packers spokesman Aaron Popkey said the banner was not meant to represent the American flag.
Hey @packers! What country are you trying to represent? That’s definitely not the American Flag! pic.twitter.com/5FBCE6PWl8
— Jeff Bonilla (@jeff_bonilla18) September 30, 2018
@packers eh …explain . What flag is this ? pic.twitter.com/9voOB8xHaq
— steve 🏴 (@Stevee5) September 30, 2018
The #GreenBayPackers used this for the #American flag in pregame festivities! I guess it’s not enough to disrespect the flag by kneeling now the @NFL allows a team to completely reconstruct our national flag! Reason enough to #BoycottTheNFL! @RealJamesWoods @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/xSln7G2qgV
— John Cremeans USA (@JohnCremeansUSA) September 30, 2018
The banner used during Sunday’s pregame ceremony supplemented the three U.S. flags on the roof of the stadium and the flag carried by the color guard on the field. We’ve used such displays from time to time in the past when other pregame elements take up a significant portion of the field. To avoid causing confusion, we will not be using such displays in the future.
With about 200 band members from the University of Wisconsin Marching Band performing the national anthem and taking up much of the playing field, fans like John Liddy said they understood why the Packers used the banner.
