Mike Riley on topic of players and the national anthem: 'Events like this are kind of exciting'

Nebraska head coach Mike Riley has been through some controversial time periods in American history.

As a player, under Bear Bryant at Alabama in the early 1970s, he said that he wasn’t as aware as he should’ve been for what was going on around him.

“I’m very thankful for it at this time in my life,” said Riley, via the Associated Press.

Riley went on to talk about how three of his current players for the Cornhuskers, Michael Rose-Ivey, Mohamed Barry and DaiShon Neal have made national attention for their decision to take a knee during the national anthem.

“We have to be prepared to be able to sit in a quiet moment and make decisions sometimes about how we’re going to handle this and what’s going to go on,” Riley said. “To me, events like this are kind of exciting.”

Riley was even asked about whether he would take a knee for a cause that moved him.

“You know, probably,” he said.

The topic has been a prevalent one across the Big Ten so far this football season, as Jim Harbaugh has said that he supports his guys, and just last week, three Michigan State players held their fists in the air during the anthem.

Many coaches from across the B1G support their players in standing up (or taking a knee) for something they believe in. Riley is one of them.