Former NFL Star Arian Foster Leaves Tomi Lahren At A Loss For Words When He Explains Why Players Kneel

Arian Foster accomplished a lot during his NFL career, but the feat the former All-Pro pulled off this week could be even more impressive — he left outspoken Fox News pundit Tomi Lahren at a total loss for words.

Foster appeared on Lahren’s No Interruption show this week after she had made a guest appearance on his Now What? podcast. As The Daily Mail noted, the wide-ranging conversation included a long segment about why NFL players took a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against minorities.

During the segment, Lahren argued that taking a knee during the anthem was an “emotional trigger” for many people, including soldiers who fought and died to protect the United States.

But, as the report noted, Foster seemed to leave Lahren at a loss for words when he explained that taking a knee is widely seen as a sign of respect, from people who kneel in church, to football players who take a knee when an opponent is injured during a game. Colin Kaepernick, who first started the protests while he was the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, had originally sat during the national anthem but after a conversation with former NFL long snapper and military veteran Nate Boyer, he decided that taking a knee would be a sign of respect and copy what soldiers do during funeral services for their fallen friends, The Daily Mail noted.

When Lahren argued that the NFL players taking a knee was not showing respect for the anthem or the flag, Foster asked her why they should respect the anthem in the first place. When Lahren replied that it was a “symbol of patriotism,” Foster’s reply left her at a loss for words.

“You hit the nail on the head. It’s a symbol,” Foster said. “And that symbol, and the beautiful thing about America, is it’s not a place. It’s not a people. It’s an idea. And that symbol means something to you. And it also means something to me. And you don’t get to dictate what that symbol means to me and you don’t get to dictate what that symbol means to somebody else.”

We don’t have to agree. We don’t have to try to prove each other wrong. Listening is key. https://t.co/T6Cmydoxhj

— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) July 25, 2019

Kaepernick and fellow NFL player Eric Reid filed a lawsuit against the league claiming that team owners colluded to keep them out of the league in response to their protest. They settled with the NFL for an undisclosed sum.