Raiders tight end Lee Smith, the team’s player representative, welcomed this week’s news that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will not require players to stand for the national anthem. Smith plans to stand during the anthem before Thursday night’s game against the Chiefs at the Coliseum. But he also understands teammates such as Marshawn Lynch, or other players around the league, might prefer to make a statement by sitting out. Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started all of this last year, of course, by kneeling during the anthem to protest racial injustice in the U.S. “Marshawn is going to sit his butt on that cooler (during the anthem) all year,” Smith said.