LOS ANGELES – This shouldn't have come as a big surprise.
Veteran defensive tackle Dontari Poe has been one of the more vocal players on the Cowboys' roster about social injustice and said he was still deciding whether to kneel during the national anthem when he was asked by the media last month.
As it turned out, Poe was the only Cowboys player who chose to kneel Sunday night, stating this was his decision and his way of protesting.
After the game, Poe was asked what kneeling means to him personally.
"It's just bringing more awareness to what's going on in this world - to the racial injustices that's going on," Poe said. "It's not something that's going to be solved in a day. People keeps asking me - what is he doing? It's bringing more awareness. This is letting people know and this is my way of fighting it. It's the beginning of it. We might not see change in my lifetime. I do want to start it by doing the simple things such as kneeling to let people know that I feel this way."
Poe said he informed his teammates and coaches of his plan.
"My teammates were telling me that they didn't want me to do it by myself alone because we're a team," he said. "But I had told them my mind was already made up and I felt this way. And if they didn't, don't do it. Don't do it unless your heart is there like mine was. I appreciate my guys for sticking with me for being behind me."
Poe said "not at all" when asked if he was disappointed there weren't more players that joined him. On the other side of the field, the Rams had 14 players who took a knee.
As for the game itself, Poe said the Cowboys just didn't make enough plays when it counted the most.
"Just a couple of plays here and there," Poe said. "Football is a game of inches. We've got to do that to get an extra inch to get the win. To get us over the hump."
