Any historians here can comment on why we even sing the national anthem before a football/basketball/baseball game between two NATIONAL LEAGUE teams? Does everyone need reminding everyday in the stadium that we are in America? Should we sing the anthem before every dinner, start of work, to remind everyone how fortunate we are to eat and work in America?
This makes sense. The NFL owners just caved to political pressure and fear of losing money. The NFL didn't run any of these rules by the players association, so they absolutely should suspend it until they reach an agreement.
I'm pretty sure the reason the anthem is played is because the military pays the NFL to do so. They pay for military advertisement, and it became a tradition because it happened for a long time. Sports leagues in numerous other countries don't play their national anthem before sports events between teams that are both from the same country.
No, the major sports leagues do it for free, out of habit more than anything; their embarrassment and backpedaling when they were uncovered for taking Department of Defense money for all the other hoopla would no longer allow them to be paid for it. It became popular during war time when people needed to come together in the war effort, first in WWI and continuing in WW2. A lot has changed since then and far too many people now attach their own ideologies to both the anthem and the flag and rather than being unifying they have become the opposite. Probably a good reason to end it all but that would only cause more divisiveness. This article is a pretty decent capsule of the history of the situation... http://time.com/4955623/history-national-anthem-sports-nfl/
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports...-long-donated-paychecks-charity-20171019.html Like Long did last season? Would the players get to pick what charity the money goes to?
I personally believe that the justice system, needs a justice system; that judges law enforcement officers. Call it cop jail. Cop prison or officer probation etc. So I understand the taking the kneel in protest. But why at a football game? Why not at a court house? I don't really care who sits or stands. I tune in for football. Just seems as if the protest is on the wrong stage. Imagine if players took a kneel on 911? Idk. Just a weird event for politics imo.
Taking a knee at a courthouse or police station would either go unnoticed or result in some false criminal charges. Taking a knee on the field, causes the public to take notice. Regardless of how anyone feels about it, the platform has made the issue daily conversation across the nation for 2 years.
