Football announcer resigns amid backlash over controversial statement on national anthem

A high school football announcer in Alabama had some strong opinions for those who choose not to stand during the national anthem.

A woman in attendance claimed on Facebook that the announcer said, "If you don't want to stand for the national anthem, you can line up over there by the fence and let our military personnel take a few shots at you since they're taking shots for you."

Photo: AL.com/Facebook

Denise Crowley-Whitfield said the crowd "went crazy" in cheers after the statement.

The announcer, Allen Joyner, is also a pastor at Sweet Home Baptist Church in Alabama. According to AL.com, he claims that he was misquoted in the Facebook post.

"I never said anybody should be shot," Joyner wrote in a statement. "My words were, 'If you don't want to stand for the national anthem, please go sit at the baseball field and let some of our folks take a shot at reminding you of the price the military paid for your freedom to sit.' I never advocated violence of any kind."

Joyner said he resigned because he shouldn't have expressed political views while he was announcing.

"Please do not take this as an admission to being wrong," he wrote. "My family, my church and my school have suffered because of the misquote; therefore, I choose not to continue to put them under more scrutiny from people who don't know me."

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