Two High School Football Players Kicked Off Team After Protesting During National Anthem

A Texas high school football team kicked off two players who protested during the national anthem Friday, according to Adam Coleman of the Houston Chronicle.

Cedric Ingram-Lewis and Larry McCullough are cousins who played on the Victory & Praise Academy football team. McCullough, a senior, said on social media that he planned to kneel for the anthem. Lewis decided to join him in protest Friday by raising a fist in the air, according to the Chronicle.

After the anthem ended, coach Ronnie Mitchem, who had previously told players he did not want them to kneel citing his service as a Marine, told the boys to take off their uniforms and kicked them off the team, according to the Chronicle.

Lewis' mother Rhonda Brady told the Chronicle that she plans to speak with Mitchem because she did not like the way the situation was handled.

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"Actions speak louder than words," Brady told the Chronicle. "So, for him to do what he did, that really spoke volumes and I don't want my kids or my nephew to be around a man with no integrity."

Mitchem told the Chronicle that he has a good relationship with Lewis and McCullough, and they knew what they were doing by protesting and had to face the consequences.