Athletes, including Broncos, tweet about officer involved shootings

DENVER -- Several NFL players are tweeting about the officer-involved shootings of African-Americans this week in Charlotte, N.C. and Tulsa, Okla.

These statements were posted to social media as many players are getting attention for controversial protests during the national anthem.

Broncos’ player Kapri Gibbs tweeted about the unarmed African-American man Terence Crutcher, who was killed in Tulsa.

"That man doesn't get to go home to his family like the rest of us today for what? There's no excuses or explanation just a dead body," he wrote.

Philadelphia Eagles player Malcolm Jenkins caught some heat for throwing up a fist during the national anthem Monday night in protest of police brutality.

He tweeted "The first step to fixing a problem is admitting that there is one! Don't ignore injustice #TerenceCrutcher.”

Saints running back Mark Ingram tweeted, "And people outraged by @kaepernick7 and others taking a stand against these CONTINUOUS injustices?!! ?????????"

Ingram also tweeted support for several other players, including Broncos’ player Brandon Marshall, who claims he's taking a stand against police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem.

Marshall told Denver7 he's trying to go beyond taking a knee to create real change in the community by visiting with fourth graders at Valverde Elementary School.

"It's very saddening -- especially to hear someone in the helicopter say, 'That looks like a bad dude.' How does that look like a bad dude? You're way up in the air. That's something that's disturbing, but that's exactly the reason we're protesting," said Marshall.

Marshall met with Denver’s police chief last week.

He says he's looking forward to training in DPD’s "shoot don't shoot" simulator as well as doing a ride along with police to better understand challenges officers on the street face.