FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon was hurt and disgusted, as spectators booed players and officials kneeling during the US anthem at their Major League Soccer (MLS) match with Nashville.
Almost 3000 fans inside Toyota Stadium at Frisco, Texas, watched both teams play for the first time since March, after they withdrew from the 'MLS is Back' tournament, due to coronavirus concerns.
In major US sports, most athletes are taking a knee in protest, after unarmed African American George Floyd died in Minnesota Police custody.
As both teams took a knee to support the 'Black Lives Matter' movement, booing could be heard from the stands, which didn't sit well with Cannon.
One man was reportedly escorted from the stadium, after throwing a water bottle onto the pitch during the anthem protest.
"I think it was disgusting," says Cannon. "I think it was absolutely disgusting.
"You got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause, we discussed with every other team and the league what we're going to do, and we've got fans booing us in our own stadium.
"How disgraceful is that? Honestly, for lack of a better word, it p****d me off.
"You can't even have support from your own fans in your own stadium. It's baffling to me."
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the match, won 1-0 by Nashville, was the first major US sports event with spectators, as the regular MLS seasons returned to action.
Cannon said he feared this might happen and asked that the US anthem not be played.
"I'm sorry for our fans, because we had someone chanting 'USA', when they don't understand what kneeling means," says Cannon.
"They don't understand why we're kneeling - they can't see the reason. They just think we're the ignorant ones and it's incredibly frustrating.
"When we decided to kneel, I knew it was going to happen. That should tell you something.
"I knew we were going to have some negative pushback from having a unified response over what's going on.
"As soon as I heard that boo, I tried to play on and I knew what to expect. We'll take it one day at a time and again, we're unified in this response and everyone stands together."
"That's a problem."
