Why you probably won't be seeing any kneeling players prior to this year's Super Bowl

American Thinker ^ | 01/16/2018 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

It looks as though NBC's plan to show NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem before the Super Bowl has been foiled.  You can blame random chance, player morale, or cosmic justice, but the defilement of our National Anthem before the biggest TV audience of the year is unlikely to happen.  Valerie Richardson reports in the Washington Times:

It appears that NFL players are no longer taking a knee during the [N]ational [A]nthem [–] namely[,] because none of the teams with still[] active protesters has qualified for the postseason.

By the end of the regular season, only five teams featured at least one player regularly sitting or kneeling on the sidelines for the anthem: the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants[,] and the Oakland Raiders.

None of those franchises made the playoffs, even though four of the five did so in the previous season, leading to speculation about whether the take-a-knee protests wound up dragging down team performance along with TV ratings.

"By their actions, the kneelers brought controversy into the locker rooms, and this kind of distraction is always going to be detrimental to team cohesiveness," said Robert Kuykendall, a spokesman for the conservative corporate watchdog 2ndVote.

I have long struggled to understand why wealthy owners of NFL teams tolerated this affront to the taxpayers who lavishly subsidize their new stadiums, and to their fans who skew male and patriotic.  The most plausible theories involve their fear of alienating black players and their desire for acceptance in politically correct high society.  But more than anything else – even money, apparently – they want to be winners (that is, owners of winning teams).

[rigelkentaurus]

Actually the reason I won’t be seeing any kneelers during the Super Bowl is that I won’t be watching, not last year, not this year, not next year, not ever in the future.

[DoughtyOne]

There were so many reasons why you shouldn’t allow this.

Some players, coaches, owners, and the league couldn’t see a one of them.

Idiots...

[beergarden]

“Actually the reason I won’t be seeing any kneelers during the Super Bowl is that I won’t be watching, “

Me neither. Unlike some lying, hypocrite Freepers who claim to boycott but you FIND them on Bender or Impy’s NFL thread bragging about the game..

[DoughtyOne]

Not

For

Long

[chris37]

Won’t be seeing any players regardless of whether they are kneeling or not.

[hardspunned]

Hopefully because you’ll see the Vikings and Patriots, the only two teams I remotely give a damn about.

[clintonh8r]

I wouldn’t be seeing them in any case....

[Pollster1]

I won’t watch the Superbowl in any season where players disrespect our flag and our anthem (and thus our military, our country, and our ancestors) without consequences. I am glad to hear that those who allow themselves to focus on overt rudeness when they should be focused on the game end up losing - an appropriate penalty for those who are natural born losers!

[BenLurkin]

I definitely won’t be seeing any kneeling players prior to this year’s Super Bowl, because I won’t be watching.

[Flick Lives]

By the end of the regular season, only five teams featured at least one player regularly sitting or kneeling on the sidelines for the anthem: the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants[,] and the Oakland Raiders.

None of those franchises made the playoffs...

---

Karma ran over the dogma

[DoughtyOne]

Why I don’t be watching. LOL

I’ve put this on the ole WBW list.

Won’t
Be
Watching

[Bullish]

Kneeling backfired and cost all NFL teams a lot of dough.

[Myrddin]

Actually the reason I won’t be seeing any kneelers during the Super Bowl is that I won’t be watching, not last year, not this year, not next year, not ever in the future.

GMTA

[Big Red Badger]

Grown men in tights...

Yeah...some show.

[taxcontrol]

I switched to hockey. Even bought season tickets. Much cheaper than the NFL and once you understand the game, more exciting in my opinion.

[dhs12345]

Agreed. A bit of a betrayal. They have to live with their conscience.

[dhs12345]

Lets hope that it is noticed in the player’s paychecks.

[Alberta's Child]

I have long struggled to understand why wealthy owners of NFL teams tolerated this affront to the taxpayers who lavishly subsidize their new stadiums, and to their fans who skew male and patriotic. The most plausible theories involve their fear of alienating black players and their desire for acceptance in politically correct high society.

Actually, the most plausible theory is that the NFL owners reviewed their options in great detail, and after consulting their legal team they concluded that any disciplinary action they took would constitute a breach of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association.

Legally, it's probably that the only thing an NFL team could do with a protesting player was bench him, or cut him from the team while paying his salary for the remainder of this season -- and even the latter action might have been a problem under the collective bargaining agreement.

[JimRed]

Kneeling backfired and cost all NFL teams a lot of dough.

The real effect will become apparent in the 2018-19 season ticket sales. Some franchises might be forced to reduce prices dramatically if negative public response continues.