Earlier this week, the Kansas City Chiefs shocking traded all-pro cornerback Marcus Peters to the Los Angeles Rams.
Peters, who just turned 25 years old already has 19 career interceptions and what made the situation more shocking was the little interest he garnered on the trading block when the Chiefs began shopping him around.
Despite being an all-pro, only three teams showed any type of interest and it had a lot to do with his decision to kneel during the National Anthem last season, according to Sports Illustrated:
“I’m told the Chiefs called all 31 other teams in the league this month on Peters, looking for a trade partner, and 28 teams either said they were not interested or did not make an offer of any value. For a player with the playing history of Peters at a vital and hard-to-fill position, that’s amazing.
Peters’ behavior had become erratic, apparently, capped by the Week 13 meltdown in the Meadowlands. The Chiefs decided they couldn’t trust his behavior anymore and, despite his playmaking ability, felt whatever they could fetch for him in trade would be better than Peters returning in 2018.
His protests during the national anthem didn’t help—at various points he raised his fist, sat on the bench and stayed in the locker room—but weren’t the driving force behind a trade.
Peters loves football. He practiced hard in Kansas City. But his tendency to lose it was a divisive part of his résumé too, and a big reason why the Chiefs dumped him.
In the end, Peters’ temper and disposition probably cost him a long career in Kansas City.”
Back in November, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt revealed he had spoken with Peters about kneeling during the national anthem:
inlineg
“When it rolled around last year, it really wasn’t a big deal for us, and we’ve tried to stay with that this year,” Hunt said. “Obviously we’ve had some guys who have sat or knelt during some of the games this year, but we’ve continued to work with them and communicate with them that we prefer for them to stand.”
Peters responded by saying:
Nobody’s gotta know my reason why I sit,” Peters said. “Nobody’s gotta know the reason why somebody chooses the religion they choose. Nobody’s gotta know why I eat cereal instead of eating oatmeal in the morning.”
