Detroit Lions’ Akeem Spence Claims His Father Lost a Contract Because of Anthem Protests

A player for the Detroit Lions has claimed that after he took a knee during the playing of the national anthem, his father lost a client for his home contracting business.

Lions defensive tackle Akeem Spence took to his Twitter account on Thursday to tell fans that his father, Floyd, was denied a contracting job due to the anthem protest.

“Got some awful news from my father a contractor deny giving him a job on doing a house because of my peaceful protest #smh,” Spence wrote on September 28:

The player took a knee during the playing of the national anthem during last Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Spence’s father did not want to comment about his son’s tweet to the media, according to the Detroit Free Press. The player’s agent told the paper that the elder Spence wanted to “maintain a low profile.”

Despite the fact that he launched his protest during the homage to the U.S. flag, Spence insisted that his protest was not aimed at the flag.

“It’s about right and wrong, like I always say,” Spence told the paper. “And what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. It’s no offense to nobody, no disrespect, just like I always tell people, love one another and we’ll be alright.”

The player also said he did not want to make any comments about President Donald Trump.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.