They are looking at a 10 percent drop in viewership this year. The Browns players are a huge increase in the insult to fans. Goodell is not a leader. A leader would rule that this nonsense has to stop; players can have any political beliefs that they want, but disrespecting the flag and the national anthem is not permitted. They need patriots to address every team and explain to them what the flag symbolizes, what the anthem was written to celebrate. The flag symbolizes the freedom of Americans, the past sacrifices of Americans, and the rights of Americans, including the freedom of black athletes to believe whatever they want. It is the flag that protects them, even if they stupidly believe that all cops are racist and that BLM is a good cause. The flag symbolizes a nation that protects BLM. It protects Nazis. It protects patriots. It unites us against foreign enemies. It is not their enemy.
But Goodell is not wise enough to say that and to send emissaries to every locker room. Instead, he maintains his war on pot, which 90 percent of the players use daily, and which is legal in a growing number of states. As I said, stupid.
Exactly right. The NFL's only hope is to fire Goodell, who can no longer get away with fixing the problem, and have the new Commissioner start fining/suspending those who engage in conduct that distracts from the game. They won't do it, and professional football will die. I'm okay with that outcome.
If Colin K. had been rude and disrespectful to our flag, our anthem, and our country in his personal life, many of us would have boycotted his team only. Doing it during the televised game made that anti-American behavior an NFL issue rather than a personal issue, and the NFL chose poorly.