Seahawks' Baldwin: 'We never said there was a protest'

Doug Baldwin wants it to be clear that the Seattle Seahawks players' planned "demonstration of unity" on Sunday should not be considered a protest.

The veteran wideout, who announced the players' plan Thursday on Twitter, said there should be no assumptions about what their demonstration will entail.

"We never said there was a protest," said Baldwin on Friday, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. "I don't know who did (call it a protest), but we never said there was a protest. We never said we were kneeling, we never said we weren't kneeling. We just said we were having a discussion. I want to be clear about that - we just said we were having a discussion."

Baldwin said earlier in the week that he considered joining his teammate Jeremy Lane in sitting during the national anthem prior to the Seahawks' preseason finale.

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith appeared to reveal the players' plans, saying they will will lock arm-in-arm "white, black, white, black, white, black."

Baldwin refused to confirm whether Smith's report was correct.

"You are going to see a demonstration of unity," Baldwin said. "Isn't that what we said we were going to do? A demonstration of unity."