John Schnatter, founder of Papa John’s Pizza, is a patriotic American who is being punished for his patriotism. He dared to criticize the disrespect shown our flag and country by NFL players.
On November 1, 2017, Schnatter made a conference call to Papa John’s shareholders in which he blamed the NFL player protests during the National Anthem for sagging pizza sales and falling Papa John’s stock prices. He blamed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for letting the protests get out of hand. Here, in part, is what Schnatter said:
“The NFL has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players’ and owners’ satisfaction. NFL leadership has hurt Papa John’s shareholders. Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership. This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago.”
There was an immediate backlash on social media as Schnatter’s remarks became public. The company was accused of being racist. That forced Papa John’s to issue an apology.
Schnatter said he is stepping down as CEO effective January 1. He will remain as chairman of the board. There is little doubt that Schnatter was forced to step down as CEO.
After he slammed Goodell and the NFL player protests, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called Schnatter a “great American.” But because the protesting NFL players are black, the Papa John’s founder and his company were battered on social media with accusations of racism.
On the other hand, Colin Kaepernick, who started the NFL player protests at the beginning of last season, has been honored with a number of awards. He was named “Citizen of the Year” by GQ Magazine. Sports Illustrated honored Kaepernick with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award during which police-hater Beyoncé thanked him for his “personal sacrifice.” The ACLU of Southern California honored him with the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award. And Time had Kaepernivk on the short list for “Person of the Year.”
The only award Kaepernick should have received is “Ungrateful Bastard of the Decade.”
What in the world are we coming to when patriotism is punished and disrespect for flag and country is honored?
This is not the America I came to in 1936 from Germany. This is not the America of 1941 when hundreds of thousands volunteered to fight the Nazis and the Japs. This is more like the America of the Viet Nam War era when thousands fled the country to escape being drafted and when soldiers were spit at and called baby killers.
What a shame that my beloved country has sunk to such a low.
See also:
Now we know what’s important to the NFL
Pizza sales are down, because people are not watching football games. Why are they not watching football games? We all know the answer. I pretty much stopped watching football. Got better things to do anyway.
Back in the early 90’s I worked for Dominoes and Pizza Hut. During football season, that was when the money was made. Sunday afternoon and evening, great tips I made. Monday night was even better.
boy how things change.
Meh, the game itself has become crap too. It seems every play has to be arbitrated afterwards to sort out who committed a person foul or hit somebody too hard or made an offending gesture.
Maybe if our local franchise wasn’t so crappy I’d feel different but this is the first year in the past 30 I haven’t joined our weekly pool and it was because I didn’t feel like trying to keep up with games all week anymore. Fan burnout may be at play as well as disgust at the primadonnas playing it.
No one will speaketh of the pink elephant in the room. What is celebrated today was called poor sportsmanship when I was young and it is a cultural thing, that is why I turned it off long before they took a knee. There is so much more to life than wasting it on the sofa watching their garbage.
Still ignoring the reason for taking the knee, eh? One can only presume it is to protect trigger-happy racist cops. You still want to project jingoistic lies like “disrespecting the Flag…” because the truth hits you closer to home. The cops are really there to keep the Coloreds in line, eh?
Pat, are you for real? If you are, you need to get your head out of your ass!