--- title: Mike Pence Leaves Colts Football Game After Players Kneel description: Vice President Mike Pence left a football game in Indiana after San Francisco 49ers players reportedly knelt during the national anthem. canonical: https://time.com/4973848/mike-pence-national-anthem-nfl-protest/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-08T18:05:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:46:45.937Z article:section: Politics og:title: Vice President Mike Pence Leaves Football Game After Players Kneel During National Anthem og:description: "I don't think it's too much to ask NFL players to respect the flag" og:url: https://time.com/4973848/mike-pence-national-anthem-nfl-protest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5405e90921c8337e/6988e1044ee262ba9730f519/vice-president-mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Dia 1 juego olimpico, Voleibol, RIO 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vice President Mike Pence Leaves Football Game After Players Kneel During National Anthem twitter:description: "I don't think it's too much to ask NFL players to respect the flag" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5405e90921c8337e/6988e1044ee262ba9730f519/vice-president-mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vice President Mike Pence Leaves Football Game After Players Kneel During National Anthem > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5504247e-04ef-4a3a-8af2-b3e4ec56ea7b&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 8, 2017 6:05 PM UTC  Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence in Puerto Rico on Oct. 7, 2017 Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence in Puerto Rico on Oct. 7, 2017 Andre Kang—GDA/AP Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 8, 2017 6:05 PM UTC Vice President Mike Pence left a football game in Indiana Sunday after players from the San Francisco 49ers reportedly knelt during the national anthem. “President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem,” Pence said in a series of tweets. “While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I don’t think its too much to ask NFL players to respect the flag and our national anthem.” > [](https://twitter.com/VP/status/917078269077413888) Pence, the former governor of Indiana, was attending a game of the Indianapolis Colts, who were playing a home game against the San Francisco 49ers — Colin Kaepernick’s former team. It appeared only members of the 49ers knelt during the anthem, not the Colts, [according to the Indianapolis Star. ](http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2017/10/08/vice-president-mike-pence-leaves-colts-game-over-protests-during-anthem/744277001/) Pence pointed this discrepancy out in a tweet, posting a picture of himself and his wife Karen standing during the anthem, and writing, “We were proud to stand – with all our colts- for our soldiers, our flag, and our National Anthem.” Last year, Kaepernick, who was playing as a quarterback for the 49ers at the time, routinely knelt during the National Anthem as a silent protest against racial injustice in America. Kaepernick’s protest morphed into a kneeling movement last month after President Donald Trump sparked controversy when he referred to NFL players who took a knee during the anthem as “sons of bi—es” during a campaign rally in Alabama. More than 100 NFL players and owners linked arms and knelt before and during the anthem following Trump’s attack. Trump said in a tweet that he had asked Pence to leave the stadium if any players kneeled during the national anthem, claiming such actions were disrespectful. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917091286607433728) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4973848/mike-pence-national-anthem-nfl-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4973848/mike-pence-national-anthem-nfl-protest/"},"headline":"Vice President Mike Pence Leaves Football Game After Players Kneel During National Anthem","datePublished":"2017-10-08T18:05:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:46:45.937Z","description":"\"I don't think its too much to ask NFL players to respect the flag\"","url":"https://time.com/4973848/mike-pence-national-anthem-nfl-protest/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5405e90921c8337e/6988e1044ee262ba9730f519/vice-president-mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5405e90921c8337e/6988e1044ee262ba9730f519/vice-president-mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dia 1 juego olimpico, Voleibol, RIO 2016","caption":"Dia 1 juego olimpico, Voleibol, RIO 2016","creditText":"Andre Kang—GDA/AP Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4973848/mike-pence-national-anthem-nfl-protest/","name":"Vice President Mike Pence Leaves Football Game After Players Kneel During National Anthem"}}]}] ```