*By Conor White*
The former NFL star Victor Cruz said the league's new rule requiring players on the field to stand during the national anthem exacerbates an us-against-them dynamic between owners and players.
"It just doesn't make sense to me," Cruz said in an interview Thursday with Cheddar. "I just don't understand why you're retracting a player's right to even protest or do anything that you wanted to do. It just feels like you're continuing the narrative that you're the player, and we're the hierarchy, and you have to listen to us, and pay attention, and do as we say."
The former New York Giants wide receiver vocalized what some current players have said they are feeling.
Last week, the NFL announced it would fine a team an undisclosed amount if any of its players were to kneel during the playing of the national anthem. Players can stay in the locker room during the anthem if they do not want to stand.
In an [interview with ESPN](http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/211882/victor-cruz-youve-got-to-respect-the-flag) in 2016, Cruz had said the American flag needed to be respected, and that he thought players should stand with their teammates during the anthem "regardless of how you feel about things that are going on in America."
Now, the 31 year old said NFL players should be able to express themselves.
"I still stand by those players who are protesting, fighting for a change, or fighting for the right things to be done, not only in the NFL, but across the world," Cruz said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/victor-cruz-makes-an-impact-off-the-football-field).
Novak Djokovic has won the U.S. Open for his 24th Grand Slam title by using every ounce of his energy and some serve-and-volley guile to get past Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the final in New York.
Diede de Groot has won her 12th straight Grand Slam wheelchair singles title. She beat Yui Kamiji on Sunday in the U.S. Open women’s final.
Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia. The player said it was without her consent.
Gauff is the first American teenager to win the country’s major tennis tournament since Serena Williams in 1999.
The Lions walked into roaring Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night, where the Kansas City Chiefs are nearly unbeatable and were trying to open their latest Super Bowl title defense with a win, and proved what Detroit coach Dan Campbell has come to know in turning around the long downtrodden franchise.
Spanish soccer star Jenni Hermoso said a kiss from federation president Luis Rubiales after the team's World Cup win was sexual assault.
Because tennis balls are extremely hard to recycle and the industry has yet to develop a ball to make that easier, nearly all of the 330 million balls made worldwide each year eventually get chucked in the garbage, with most ending up in landfills.
“You cannot imagine," he said. "One player (is) gonna die, and they’re gonna see.”
Spanish state prosecutors say soccer player Jenni Hermoso has accused Luis Rubiales of sexual assault for kissing her on the lips without her consent after the Women’s World Cup final.
Rising tennis sensation Coco Gauff is the first teen from the U.S. to reach the semifinals in the U.S. Open since Serena Williams in 2001.
