Refusing to stand for the playing of The Star Spangled Banner disrespects our flag and country. And that’s what many NFL players did all last season as a protest against police brutality. And to their shame, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and most of the team owners supported the protest on the field.
Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans, did not support the protests. In October he said, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.” He received so much flack from players throughout the league, so that he apologized for having made that remark. But then in April he said he wished he had not made that apology.
The NFL is really the UFL … Unpatriotic Football League. And one of the teams also needs a name change. No, not the Washington Redskins. It’s the New England Patriots that have sure been misnamed. Owner Bob Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have all supported the right of players to disrespect our flag and country by refusing to stand during the anthem. Patriots my ass!
Finally in May, after a continuing barrage of criticism and declining TV viewership of NFL games, Roger Goodell got off his ass and instituted a new National Anthem policy. All players on the field would have to stand during the anthem. Players who did not want to respect our flag and country would have to remain in the locker room until after the anthem.
The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) had a fit. Earlier this month the NFLPA filed a grievance against the NFL, claiming that “this new policy, imposed by the NFL’s governing body without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on player rights.”
A spineless Goodell quickly caved in. On July 19 The NFL and NFLPA issued a joint statement which said “no new rules relating to the anthem will be issued or enforced for the next several weeks”
How disgusting! Respect for flag and country should never ever be subject to collective bargaining.
And that is how Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, must feel. On Wednesday a patriotic Jerry Jones defied an unpatriotic Roger Goodell and an unpatriotic NFLPA. He told reporters that his players would be forbidden from protesting or remaining in the locker room during The Star-Spangled Banner. “Our policy is you stand during the anthem, toe on the line.”
Stephen Jones, Jerry’s son and executive vice president of the Cowboys, said that players will have to stand “if they want to be a Dallas Cowboy.” He went on to say:
“We certainly are supportive of them when they have their personal issues or their personal things that they want to pursue. And we’ll help them pursue them on Tuesdays. But when you’re wearing the Dallas Cowboy uniform and a Dallas Cowboy helmet and you’re working for the Dallas Cowboys, you check the ‘I’ and the ‘me’ at the door, and you’re a part of a team.”
President Trump tweeted Friday morning, “Way to go Jerry. This is what the league should do!”
God bless Jerry and Stephen Jones, and God bless America!
Roger Has 0 Patriotism. He cares about the new 200 Million Dollar Ninny the League him to Suck Suck to keep his Mouth Shut on all the CTE Brain Trauma Dirt.
Let me add that the NFL players have every right to publicly express their personal views on any subject. They can condemn police brutality against blacks on any street corner, on any TV news show and in interviews with the print media. And they can even express those views on the playing field in some manner, provided they have the league’s permission to do so. But they do not have the right to disrespect our flag and country in front of thousands of spectators and millions of TV viewers.
The players are employees subject to the reasonable work rules of their bosses. While salaries and playing conditions are subject to collective bargaining, respect for flag and country is not and cannot ever be subject to any kinds of negotiation.
Goodell apparently believes that inmates should run the prison. Jerry and Stephen Jones and Bob McNair believe the guards should be in charge. They are patriotic. Goodell, the protesting players and the owners and coaches who support the players make up the Unpatriotic Football League..
Howie, none of those players has disrespected the flag that I’ve seen. They haven’t been dancing around, making noise, or such, just kneeling. That’s as respectful, if not more so, than the fans in the stands who are getting a beer, playing with their phones, or jaw jacking with their neighbor.
As for trading players who don’t comply with your wishes, that would destroy any team that employed that approach. The owners are in business to make money, and that means putting up with harmless behavior from good players.
You don’t get it Ross. Although there is no law requiring that people stand for our anthem, it has long been the custom all over the world for people to stand while the anthem of their nation is played. Failure to stand is, except in your opinion, considered to be disrespectful to flag and country.
Let me compare the National Hockey League to the NFL. Most NHL players are Canadians, Russians, Swedes and other Europeans, with only a few Americans. Yet when the Star Spangled Banner is played, all players stand, including the Russians whose homeland is considered an enemy of the U.S.
It appears to me you are from a generation that has lost respect for our country. Kneeling in protest of some issue during the anthem is not by any stretch of the imagination respectful.
And if they started firing the disrespectful players, just see how quick all that kneeling crap would come to an end.
If Jerry Jones was some kind of patriot, he would have put a stop to the offensive kneeling on his team right away, not let it fester, kinda, sorta, participate in kneeling for a picture, and not after he finds out that the whole sordid business is actually costing him money,
I’ve been done with the NFL. They chose SJW’s over patriotic Americans. Good luck with that.
Jerry Jones knelling together with his players occurred before the start of the anthem. When the Star Spangled Banner began, they all stood up, although they locked arms. I’m sure Jones now regrets participating like that with the players and I do not believe it’s because of any monetary loss. Jones has always been patriotic.
@Howie,
McNair is just as bad as the rest. Had he any kind of backbone, he would have doubled down on the “inmates running the prison” comment and told his team, you work for me, and I only have the money to pay you when people buy tickets, and most of the people why buy tickets aren’t down with your anti-American protests. Shape up or find a new place to play.
He could have made Houston a standout, as in, “we love America here in Houston. If you don’t, I’ll work to trade you to another team.”
Football team owners (and the NFL collectively) own a business. That business is entertainment. They depend on the goodwill of their fans and viewers. They are free to run their businesses as they see fit – within the confines of established laws.
As business owners in the entertainment industry team owners, like Jerry Jones have a right to expect their employees to adhere to certain standards of behavior. They are also allowed to provide incentives (both positive and negative) to encourage their employees to comply with those standards. The owners also are provided incentives for how they run their business. The public decides to watch their product, or it doesn’t. In the case of the NFL, it would appear that Mr. Goodell’s business policy is yielding less than optimal results. Perhaps Mr. Jones is simply tired of watching his fan base slowly fade away. . . .
1. Let the whiners put on a military uniform, carry all the necessary gear and firearms all day in very hot temperatures and take rocket and small arms fire from crazy people who wish to die while trying to kill as many of you first, or 2. let them run toward gunshots, when you are hiding, 3. answer an emergency call that is frequently, unknown by the officer, made to bring him/her into deadly fire. Then come back and put on the game uniform and see if you feel the same. Walk a block in a dangerous jock and you might see the real world.