Posted on 01/16/2018 11:11:16 AM PST by SeekAndFind
No, they couldn't do that. Here is how an owner who really gives a damn is likely to deal with a player who stages a protest during the national anthem:
1. Do nothing this season (for the reasons I documented above).
2. Cut the player in the off-season, as permitted under the collective bargaining agreement.
Item #2 as permitted under the CBA allows a team to get out from under a bad contract if the player's performance doesn't warrant the salary he is due to be paid for the remainder of his contract. It also allows the team to cut the player simply because the team wants to go in a new direction and the player's skills and style may not fit the needs of the new offense/defense/etc. the team wants to implement. Teams can also cut players like this if they have documented cases of player misconduct off the field.
My suspicion is that if the team gives any indication that they player is being cut for reasons totally unrelated to performance or documented cases of unacceptable off-the-field behavior, the player may have legitimate grounds to file a grievance under the CBA. That is why a team's management is likely to say absolutely NOTHING about the player's protest before cutting him.
Armored gorillas standing around holding meetings, punctuated with frantic movements around an oblong spheroid of peculiar dimensions.
I used to watch SB for the ads, but having gone mostly ad-free for 10+ years I can’t even stand those now.
I can appreciate a good game if I’m somehow compelled to watch, but since NFL has made it so hard to watch via “streaming”, I won’t unless invited somewhere to.
“No, they couldn’t do that.”
Why not?
No they stopped doing that. It’s still being made fun of though.
The irony is thick here!
I contend that the team disunity caused by this selfish behavior cost some teams a playoff berth.
Nope. Read my post care-fully. Did I ever state that Impy was a hypocrite? You’re pathetic.
I saw 1.5 games this past weekend only because a longtime friend was having his annual Divisional Round Playoff Party, and I wanted to hang out with my buddies for a while. I had a very civil conversation with a friend who leans left, and he tried to make the case that even though he was pissed at them, he forgave them and has come back into the fold. Most of the players, he maintained are good guys who love the country. I acknowledged that while that may be true, the real problem at this point is that the league essentially endorsed the behavior in a number of ways, without even a public apology (correct me if I am wrong, and I might be), that they have offended their customers. They care more about their employees than they do about the average American, and that is why he should still be turning the games off. If, say Home Depot publicly spit in your face, would you still go there? No sane or self-respecting person would.
It wasn't until HD TV that I even knew why they were waving those sticks around!
LOL!
Players were threatened for kneeling on the field during a game, so there’s plenty of precedent for threatening them for kneeling on the field during a game - on grounds that both irritate/offend many in the audience.
These NFL morons won’t have to worry. I for one have not watched a single game in the past 2 years. Shameful what these tools have done to an American sport!
However, it looks like there is nothing in the NFL's rules or in the collective bargaining agreement that covers a player's behavior on the sidelines before the game begins.
This will almost certainly be addressed when the CBA expires and a new one is negotiated.
It’s not just kneeling. Anything except following the NFL’s own protocol for the anthem is peeing on your leg and telling you it’s raining. Locking arms, bowed heads, etc., are the same FU to America.
I don’t see why this kneeling crap does not constitute misconduct.
There is also a cast of thousands associated with the pre-game show. That crew will likely contain it's share of attention whores.
“Shameful what these tools have done to an American sport!”
What they’ve done emerges from who they are. So long as they are willing to tolerate despicable scoundrels because they play well, this will be a problem.
The fact that the players were kneeling silently instead of making a big scene makes it hard to claim they are engaging in any kind of misconduct.
Agreed. You don’t disrespect some else to make a point.
I’m sure the lawyers for the forces of evil would argue that.
The other side would probably bring up the prospect of players extending their middle fingers to the flag.
Equally silent, equally still, equally disrespectful.
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