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In Pictures: NFL players, owners take a stand against Donald Trump

Click to play video: 'NFL teams, players lock arms in unity after president’s comments'
NFL teams, players lock arms in unity after president’s comments
WATCH ABOVE: NFL teams locked arms in unity while others knelt during national anthems on Sunday after President Trump's comments about players kneeling during the national anthem. Ines de la Cuetara reports – Sep 24, 2017

Your Sunday Night Football just got extra-political.

It started on Friday, when U.S. President Donald Trump spoke out against the football players who took a knee last season, in a thinly veiled shot at Colin Kaepernick.

Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b***h off the field right now, out. He’s fired. He’s fired!’” Trump said in Alabama.

Those comments were heard by the owners of the NFL team — but maybe not quite as Trump expected.
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On Saturday, they started speaking out and on Sunday, a flurry of statements from team owners was released.

Scroll through for the statements.

That was just the beginning.

Sunday Night Football started early on Sept. 24, with the Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the Baltimore Ravens in London, England at 10 a.m. ET as part of the international series.

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Twenty-seven players took a knee during the anthem, and Jaguar owner Shahid Khan (the only non-white NFL owner) locked arms with the players in solidarity.

Shahid Khan locks arms with his team.

Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

Members of the Jaguars kneel during the national anthem.

Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

READ MORE: Supporters want Colin Kaepernick hired by NFL season start

The Miami Dolphins took a visible stand as many players wore shirts proudly saying ‘I’m with Kap’ during the warm-ups. 

The rest of Sunday Football got underway at 1 p.m.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers went a step further, and stayed in their change room during the national anthem during their game at Chicago Bears

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions

New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers

Saints players sit during the anthem. AP Photo/Bob Leverone

Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills

Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets

Houston Texans at New England Patriots

Black Lives Matter protesters gathered outside stadiums to push the issue as well.

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Protest in Minnesotta. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

In response to the protest, Trump tweeted: “Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!”

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He appeared to suggest that standing with arms locked was in support of the anthem, rather than in protest to his Friday night comments.

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But Khan, who was the first owner to lock arms with players, explicitly stated that the action was one of protest.

“We have a lot of work to do [to unite the nation], and we can do it, but the comments by the president make it harder,” he told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. ” That’s why it was important for us, and personally for me, to show the world that even if we may differ at times, we can and should be united in the effort to become better as people and a nation.”

Football fans also made their voices heard, with some holding up signs in support of standing for the national anthem.

But football wasn’t the only sport getting in on the protest.

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Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell was the first Major League Baseball player to take a knee during the anthem on Saturday night in his game against the Texas Rangers.

Maxwell takes a knee in MLB game.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
WATCH: First MLB player took a knee during Anthem after Trump NFL attacks
Click to play video: 'First MLB player took a knee during Anthem after Trump NFL attacks'
First MLB player took a knee during Anthem after Trump NFL attacks

Even the legendary musician Stevie Wonder knelt during the New York Music Festival. While he didn’t mention the NFL or Kaepernick by name, he said he was “taking a knee for America; but not just one knee, I’m taking both knees,” CNN reports.

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“Both knees in prayer for our planet, our future, our leaders of the world and our globe. Amen …”

WATCH: Stevie Wonder took a knee after Trump attacks NFL players protesting anthem
Click to play video: 'Stevie Wonder took a knee after Trump attacks NFL players protesting anthem'
Stevie Wonder took a knee after Trump attacks NFL players protesting anthem

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