Here is an NFL player who would have kneeled for the national anthem, and is a reason why every player in the league should stand with their hand on their hearts while they play the Star Spangled Banner. Honor and remember Jack Lummus, who earned the Medal of Honor posthumously on Iwo Jima.

A two sport star at Baylor University, Lummus played nine game for the New York Giants in 1942, after washing out of Air Corps flight school. He then enlisted in the Marine Corps and was selected for Officer Candidate School.

Lummus, the Executive Officer of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines, was among the first troops ashore Iwo Jima and fought against dug in Japanese troops for two weeks. On March 8, while leading a rifle platoon, he knocked out three enemy strong points before stepping on a land mine, which blew off his legs. Despite his terrible wounds, Lummus urged on his men, inspiring them to press forward.

Evacuated to the rear, Lummus succumbed to his wounds, telling an aid station doctor, “Well, doc, the New York Giants lost a mighty good end today.”

Lummus is buried in his home state of Texas, and, in 2020, Baylor unveiled a statue of Lummus near their football stadium. Please honor and remember Jack Lummus.