The morning before he became the only baseball player to kneel for the national anthem, then-Oakland Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell called Delino DeShields to tell him about his plans.
In the wake of Donald Trump calling kneeling NFL players "sons of bitches" in 2017, Maxwell invited DeShields to join him in kneeling during the national anthem.
DeShields ultimately decided that it wasn't the right time to take a stand, especially in a sport with a notoriously conservative culture.
Maxwell continued his national anthem protest as the A's visited the Texas Rangers in Texas, and as the boos rained down on his friend, DeShields felt the regret sinking in.
"I felt like a sellout," said DeShields, now an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians. "I always felt like I should've been out there with him, and now he's not even in the league no more. He's out in Mexico playing. It just sucks that happened to him."
The same fans who cheered for him every single night didn't seem to understand or care why Maxwell was protesting.
"I just remember hearing everyone booing, people behind me talking s--- pretty much," DeShields said. "Do you guys not see me? I'm black. This could very well be me. How would you treat me if y'all say y'all love me and y'all love watching me play and I'm this, that, the other, what would your reaction be if it was me? That day, I remember specifically I didn't even want to play. I can't play in front of these people today. I felt uncomfortable."