NFL says Trump's "divisive" comments "demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL

It seems to me that matter has already been decided and the NFL should follow it's own operating guidelines.
Especially now that the NFL itself is condoning and aiding an action that is alienating much of it's fan base.
Personally, I already ignore the NFL to a great degree so I don't mind the irony of the fan base peeling away due to the league
violating it's own policy.

Many take it as a sign of disrespect.
Any NFL player who feels the country is so racist and evil that he simply must speak out has ample opportunity to get his message out
without bringing his personal views to his job.

Frankly, the pandering by the haughty and supercilious billionaires that run the league with regards to a small contingent of malcontents and disgruntled societal critics is unseemly and hypocritical. Other players have been fined and rebuffed for a number of small personal protests
on a number of issues so once again we see the principal of punishing the small transgression while the much greater one is ignored.

 

You are free to insist that the NFL should be persnickety. Ultimately, that's their call.

Anyone who does should not be fooled by hysterical tweets about disrespecting the flag when Americans peacefully exercise their right to personal expression.
Quietly genuflecting during the song does not betoken disrespect.

 

And ultimately the NFL will revert to their own established policy when they start losing fans and money.
Suddenly you will see their support for pampered malcontents magically vanish!

Actually the NFL's own operating manual disagrees and
precisely prescribes that players should stand at attention during the playing of the national anthem with helmets held under left arms.

 

I lived in Colorado Springs for 5 years in the '90s and was a big fan of CC hockey. I took my kids all the time. I did notice that soccer was pretty big there but my kids played baseball, basketball and hockey. I also loved going to Sky Sox games. $4.00 beers, $3.00 dogs and great seats for $6.00. We usually ended up making money as my kids would get 5-6 baseballs a game from players or foul balls.

 

Obviously, the NFL will do whatever its amoral, mercenary interests dictate. If that is to suppress peaceful, personal expression by Americans, that is what it will try to do.

And, quite commonly, highway regulations precisely prescribe that motorists not exceed 55 mph, and strongly encourage them to keep their hands at 9 and 3 o'clock on the steering wheel. Not all pc decrees are accompanied by draconian enforcement in a free society.

 

Meanwhile, millions of Americans at home watching the game take the anthem as a time to grab a beer and take a piss.

Crazy thing.

 

It's completely acceptable to "suppress
peaceful personal expression" while on the job. Period!
Pro athletes have journalists begging them for commentary. I suggest athletes have ample opportunity to express themselves.

Why it's necessary to alienate so many people by boycotting a simple moment of respect for our nation, when football players
have such open access to the media, is a mystery to me.

And yet the policy still exists, as do our highway regulations. Since team owners are joining into the planning and execution of these protests now I'm wondering where your overly dramatic view of "draconian enforcement" is justified here?

It seems most absurd to me.

 

I do not presume to dictate to fellow Americans as to how, when, and where they exercise their freedom of expression. If their peacefully doing so is a matter than conflicts with their employer's interests, I prefer that the matter be resolved internally, without the State intruding and dictating to either party

Why should anyone have to be exploited into a stage of mindless rage by an unpopular divisive politician whose fake meme is that by their silent genuflection during a pre-game song, they are somehow disrespecting the nation's flag?

 

The absurdity of the left is now to claim that really their refusing to stand for the flag and national anthem symbolizes exactly nothing and therefore absolutely no one dare counter protest as any counter protesting of the left's agenda is not to be tolerated.

Your message is even more absurd in that you claim they are kneeling to demonstrate submissiveness and worship of the flag and national anthem for which they are not protesting but rather being hyper patriotic protesting that people aren't patriotic enough.

 

Big difference between standing, sitting, and kneeling. If someone sits its viewed upon negatively but very little is ever mentioned of it. The act of kneeling, is very specific, it can only be done in a manner that sends a message.

I think the NFL screwed this up big time, and I'm glad. The US is their only true market, every attempt to export American football has failed, and now the NFL is insulting the only fanbase they will ever have. For too long the NFL and other sports have forgotten what they are, entertainment. In today's world there are thousands of entertainment options that weren't available just a few short years ago. If the NFL continues to disrespect their fans they will disappear...

 

So you found a new word, "genuflection" and use it, even though you use it exactly incorrectly. They are not knelling in submission as you claim as you now repeatedly denying they are protesting anything in such word usage. They are knelling in protest.

 

Utter nonsense. Trump is President. The NFL is a private corporation.

And they ought to remove the anthem. Leave it for national events.

 

Yes, many on the left want the national anthem banned.

 

I don't want it banned.

I want it played where it should be played. National events.

I'd like to see you say "Thank you, Mr. President Obama" for all this fake paid patriotism.

 

Also, I'm of the opinion he did this to deflect from his absolutely awful response to all these hurricanes.

FRAUD PRESIDENT.

 

Don't worry I knew the dictionary would once again be your downfall.

 

5/10 SEE ME AFTER CLASS

 

My favorite part about these so-called fans who are now "fed up" and "done" with football, is that many of them have taken to burning their jerseys and fan gear or dumping it in the trash over these protests, because that was the final straw. I don't remember these people destroying their gear when say, Michael Vick, got to stay with the Eagles. Or when Ray Rice clocked his fiance. Or when Adam Jones inevitably gets in trouble. Or even with Ray Lewis, who had a big trial for murder back in 2000 yet fans still wear his jersey faithfully to this day, but now THIS is offensive, THIS makes him a scumbag. There's Texans fans I bet who are burning their J.J. Watt jerseys while forgetting that he raised millions of dollars for Hurricane Harvey relief when that happened.

Even funnier is how fans seem to forget they're the ones who bought the gear in the first place, so it's their money they're burning.

 

And the NFL's tolerance for some players
and their flaunting of the NFL's own guidelines about appropriate behavior during the national anthem (not an unreasonable or interminable amount of time) has gotten them to the point where viewership of games and approval of the league has reached alarming lows.

Goodell and his gaggle of robber baron owners will either rein in the demonstrations (that come at the expense of respectful treatment for our national anthem) or discover that many people who once thought they couldn't live without their NFL football fix find that they can (their financial support will certainly be curtailed, at the least).

The anger over the
antics of Colin Kaepernick predate Trump's input in the matter.

 

Word association is yours. I guess the NFL commissioner may fine someone for breaking the rules or should he.

 

You're right I'm waiting to see the Patriots jersey bonfire.

 

Not following your logic. The fact that the NFL is a private corporation doesn't preclude it from disrespecting the flag.

 

People are more concerned with players disrespecting THEIR country and not as concerned with players disrespecting the players dog or girlfriend.

 

I defer to you as the authorized spokesperson for that "left" that dwells between your ears, of course, but symbolic acts do not symbolize nothing. If someone wants to "counter-protest" by standing tall, rigid, with head held high, that is certainly his right.

Your interpretation is noted, and I acknowledge that you are to be credited for it, despite your erroneous attribution. Submissiveness toward and worship of any flag or song is never appropriate. Respect for any symbol is best expressed by embracing the values therein symbolized, in this case, an American's freedom of expression.