Marshawn Lynch sits for U.S. national anthem, stands for Mexican anthem

Marshawn Lynch made headlines prior to Sunday's game between the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots. The game was played at the Estadio Azteca, in Mexico City, Mexico. Just like he has all year, Lynch sat during the national anthem, but stood for the Mexican national anthem.

Lynch sitting during the United States national anthem is nothing new, anthem protests take place across the league each week. The protests became a national story because of Colin Kaepernick, who is most notorious in for using the anthem to protest racial injustice and racial inequality. Kaepernick was recently named GQ's Citizen of the Year for being an activist, and risking his entire career in an effort to improve racial tension.

Prior to Kaepernick protesting during the anthem, Lynch has said himself that he has been sitting during the national anthem for the past 11 years. Although his intentions for sitting during the national anthem before Kaepernick are unclear, Lynch does stand with Kaepernick's message of racial injustice and racial inequality. In an interview with Conan O'Brien in September of 2016, Lynch told Conan "I just hope people open up their eyes to see that there's really a problem going on, and something needs to be done for it to stop,".

Although Lynch has still made it unclear what his exact reasons for sitting during the national anthem are, him standing for the Mexican national anthem, but sitting for the "Star Spangled Banner" suggests that he is following in the footsteps of Kaepernick's message.