There is a difference, though, to being indifferent to the anthem and deliberately opposing the anthem.
Suspensions are a self sabotaging punishment as you suggested. The only sensible punishment is a fine. If the players feel so strongly about it that they are willing to pay to use the leagues platform for their personal political statements then let them do so. I guarantee after a few fines they will be standing.
Please tell me why all the school teachers, African American or other nationalities and races are NOT kneeling at the playing of Nat Anthem?? Because in that Union you protest by focusing your gripes at the school district for better pay , problems with contract etc Now if a group feels discriminated against by Law Enforcement (which I believe this is what it's all about for these players) DO IT THE RIGHT WAY >>>>Go picket your local Police Dept HQTr or State Police, the Mayors Office, Chief of Police, Governors office, send angry letters to the New York Times or Washington post ...I mean use your head guys!!! ...Instead America HATES these disrespectful players who are giving a very public FU to paying customers and owners that pay you millions for a skill that some have not gotten a college degree/High school diploma for...gag No one in any regular paying job can get away with this without being fired
I can imagine NFL players in front of some Police Precinct protesting. I agree they could use more effective avenues to get their points across. PSA's during the game would be a decent starter. Targeted ads paid for by the players would also work. The players probably thought kneeling was a good form of passive protesting. Unfortunately they allowed the meaning of the protest to be lost and the conversation hijacked. With unfortunate encounters between LEO's and civilians almost a daily occurrence (thankfully not all fatal), there's enough video out there to piece together very effective PSA's. They could use social media as well to spread their message. Its not like they don't have enough capital to pay for these kinds of protest messages. If they wholeheartedly believe in their message, they shouldn't mind paying the costs of getting that message heard. Kneeling for the NA just isn't getting the message across in any meaningful way. In other words, "put their money where their mouths are.."
Sports and entertainment are one and the same, people can chose which TV shows or comedians to watch that have historically been politically/socially controversial. Boycott the actors or the players if you wish, or the entire NFL. Viewers had the power to remove Rosanne Barr from a TV series she made popular by using blatantly racist remarks. These young men are not doing that. We are all free to pick and chose if we wish to hear the message or not. The players are using their platform, for a few moments before a game, to peaceful and respectfully express their concerns, then they proceed to do the hours of "work" they are paid for. Sometimes, risking your health and wellbeing over a violent game to entertain others, should allow these men to take a few moments to protest with others that have no voice.
What viewers got Roseanne removed? She was fired almost immediately by Disney simply getting out ahead of the controversy not as a response to any actual viewer backlash.
College model is an idea. As it is, TV stopped broadcasting the pre-game playing of the national anthem years ago and nobody gave a hoot and network switchboards didn't blow up the way they did e.g. during the Jets-Raiders "Heidi game." As for Slash. "fans treated?" "Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twi-BUTCHERED NOTE-light''s last gleaming?... ..... BLOWS CUE <---Oh, say does that star-spangled ban-BUTCHERED NOTE-ner yet waving, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave........cue: over-the-top-self-indulgent "LGS" riffing (Lead Guitar Syndrome) That day the Spirit of Troy (TMB) was good money, USC massacred UCLA 40-21, and Slash massacred the national anthem. sidebar: #22-ranked UCLA was leading unranked USC 21-20 when UCLA QB Rosen fumbled which USC returned for a TD, then Rosen followed it up with an INT....game, set & match from there. After the loss Rosen (apparently quite the asshole already back then) was quoted as saying: "We made that defense look a lot better than they necessarily were." (source: LA Times) .
There were calls all over social media condemning her words.....certainly didn't leave advertisers much choice. The outrage was immediately loud and strong.
If the NFL grows a pair and reinstates the policy the penalty for kneeling should be forfeit of that weeks game check (or 1/16 of their salary). If they choose to kneel every week they play for free.
No, they suspended it after the Dolphins put in place a policy to suspend players which wasn’t in line with the leagues policy simply to use fines to dissuade the behavior. Do you see the difference between fines and suspensions? The league didn’t halt it in response to any threat against the use of fines. This is so simple you should be embarrassed by the connection you think you just made. Try to keep up with the specifics of the issue.
It still wasn’t in response to any direct viewer action. They also fired James Gunn in which there was no advertisers threat when it came to making another GOTG movie. The fact is these were responses made to placate general outrage.
Haha, the kids loved it, that's what really matters. Josh is Josh, gonna say whatever is on his damn mind. It might cost him in the NFL (hope not) if he says that about an opposing NFL defense. I love the pageantry and tradition of college football, and evidently, former players do also....even those that play over 10 years and end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This has not been said by only Ronnie Lott... "Pete Carroll, now coach of the Seattle Seahawks, hadn't fully grasped the significance of the long, spacious, historic walkway that leads to the field at the Los Angeles Coliseum when he took over the football program at USC in 2001. But one day, the Trojans were making their way onto the field and Carroll stayed behind with Hall of Famer and distinguished alumnus Ronnie Lott. Carroll asked Lott if this was a special walk for him. "He looked at me like he thought I was crazy," Carroll recalled on a conference call Wednesday, four days before returning to the Coliseum to take on the Los Angeles Rams. "He said, 'Are you kidding? Special? There's nothing like this.'"
I'm embarrassed for you. Do you honestly believe that the league and players union were able to arrange a meeting , get together and agree to suspend the policy within a 2 hour window. This was in the works well before the Dolphins memo. That memo by the way was a 9 page document on conduct detrimental to the Club, proper Anthem Conduct was only one of several issues addressed. The document stated Miami can choose not to issue any suspensions nor fine any player who protests the anthem. Some of the other "violations" listed under "conduct detrimental to the club" include drug use or possession, gambling, breaking curfew and riding motorcycles as a driver or passenger from the start of camp until the last game of the season. The owners never voted on the leagues policy, and the Players association never agreed to it. In fact, they were not even informed of it before it was announced, violating the CBA. That's why it was suspended by the league.
It was made very clear a number of years ago just how dedicated to "truth, justice and the American way" the NFL always has been when it was disclosed that the teams and the NFL took millions of dollars from the government for putting on those pseudo-patriotic extravaganzas. To believe that any sentiment other than love of the almighty dollar enters any into decisions the NFL makes is preposterous.
That holds true for all major sports leagues, MLB, the NBA. The DOD uses it as a recruiting tool for the armed forces.
Do people usually sing along to the national anthem over there? I'm drawing a blank from the one time I did attend a game at Metlife. Geno's three interceptions in a row has burned away most other memories of that event.
