Former Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch appeared on "Conan" on Tuesday and was asked for his thoughts on Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem.

"With what’s going on, I’d rather see him take a knee than stand up, put his hands up and get murdered," Lynch said. "So my take on it is s--- has to start somewhere, and if that was the starting point, I just hope people open up their eyes to see that there’s really a problem going on, and something needs to be done for it to stop. And if you’re really not racist then you won’t see what he’s doing as a threat to America, but just addressing a problem that we have."

Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane supported Kaepernick by kneeling during the team's final preseason game.

During the regular season, the entire team has stood together, arms locked in a demonstration of unity.

Lynch was also asked if the physical toll of playing football factored into his decision to retire.

"I felt that from the first hit in Pop Warner," Lynch said. "But in order to play in that game, you’ve got to have a couple screws loose. The older I got, those screws started getting tightened up a little bit, so you live and you learn."