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It was a powerful TV moment that could have helped a new morning TV show put a stake in the ground. After Reuben Foster of the 49ers was charged with multiple felonies for allegedly beating up his girlfriend, Michelle Beadle of ESPN's new "Get Up" criticized GM John Lynch's position that the team should let the justice system play out before making a decision on the second-year linebacker. Instead, the 49ers should "do the right thing" and proactively dump Foster, said Beadle last month.

Several N.F.L. teams determined cheerleading programs had a scarcity problem on game days. If cheerleaders were on the sideline dancing, none were available to serve as scantily clad hostesses who could mingle with fans high up in the cheap seats or in the luxury suites, where teams catered to big-money customers. To address that shortcoming, some teams created a different kind of cheerleading team — one whose members did not do any cheering or require any dance training. They were hired mainly for their appearance. Their visits with male fans, the teams believed, produced a better game-day experience, akin to...

The first snippets of testimony have emerged from the depositions taken in the Colin Kaepernick collusion grievance. And it’s becoming even more obvious that the NFL changed its anthem policy at the direct behest of the President. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, while testifying in the Kaepernick collusion grievance, shared the details of a phone call with the President. “This is a very winning, strong issue for me,” the President told Jones, according to Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal. “Tell everybody, you can’t win this one. This one lifts me.” The President was right. There was no way to...

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif could be paged next season. Duvernay-Tardif, the Chiefs' starting right guard, took part in a graduation ceremony on Tuesday at McGill University in Montreal, where he obtained his doctorate in medicine. The degree completes seven years of study. “This is it! Today I become a doctor!” Duvernay-Tardif announced on his Twitter account. Duvernay-Tardif planned a medical, not an NFL, career when he enrolled at McGill. But he became a sixth-round draft choice of the Chiefs in 2014, and the school created a plan that allowed him to finish his degree while playing football. He quickly returned to medical...

Here is a threat I really hope is acted upon.  It is time for a reality check for millionaire athletes who feel oppressed. From Danyal Hussain of the U.K. Daily Mail: Several NFL stars are reportedly considering not playing until Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid are signed by teams.  According to columnist Shaun King, the protesting players are hoping that up to 25 per cent of the league will join them in sitting out. BREAKING: Several star @NFL players have told me they are considering sitting out the season until the de facto ban of Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick is...

I remember when taking a knee in football was one of the most satisfying things in this life. It used to mean one of two things: a well-deserved respite from the grueling grind of sweltering practices during the hot and humid late summer weather of the pre-season or the final magnificent moments before a looming victory in America’s most popular sport. … No, this isn’t really about “free speech.” If a group of NFL players used the field to protest against same-sex “marriage,” abortion, or some other wicked perversion held dear by the left, I’m almost certain that many of...

As noted here last week, the adjustment to the national anthem policy should remove any impediment to the employment of quarterback Colin Kaepernick and safety Eric Reid, since neither will be able to kneel during the national anthem. Some players reportedly have come to the same conclusion. Shaun King, an independent reporter who has had several anthem-related stories in recent months, contends that “[s]everal NFL stars have told me they are considering sitting out the season until the de facto ban of Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick is removed and both men are given spots back on rosters.”

There's a great scene in the movie Witness where a bunch of bullies start picking on some Amish farmers, and then they pick on Harrison Ford, who is sporting Extreme Mennonite drag. They knock off his straw hat, laugh at him, and then he beats the crap out of them.The bullies are shocked, stunned, and bewildered. Why, he’s not supposed to fight back! Why, the Amish, they’re better than that! But Harrison’s not. As his buddy says, he’s from Ohio.I am not better than that either. How about you?Because today, being “better than that” means being willing to allow other people...

President Trump has unleashed his ire against the "13 angry Democrats" on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation on Twitter the past couple of days. For months prior, he has dismissed the probe as a biased "witch hunt." When will the 13 Angry Democrats (& those who worked for President O), reveal their disqualifying Conflicts of Interest? It’s been a long time now! Will they be indelibly written into the Report along with the fact that the only Collusion is with the Dems, Justice, FBI & Russia?— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018 He sent them another message Sunday...

It’s not often you get to watch a major corporation publicly try to pull out of a self-inflicted nosedive, but that’s exactly what the National Football League attempted to do this week. The last two seasons have been a time of shrinking viewership for the league that “owns a day of the week,” as they saying goes, and that negatively impacts the bottom line. So the NFL came up with a solution to what they see as the problem.Starting this season, the NFL will fine teams with players who don’t stand for the national anthem. Whether or not those teams...

“LET'S GET REAL: If you think kneeling respectfully to protest injustice is more egregious than cops gunning down 12-year-old #TamirRice for holding a toy or murdering #PhilandoCastile in his car with his young daughter, then you have no moral compass. NONE.” – Peter DaouI love that quote because it’s like saying, “LET'S GET REAL: If you think urinating respectfully on Ted Kennedy’s grave to protest injustice is more egregious than an illegal immigrant murdering Kate Steinle, then you have no moral compass. NONE.”A reasonable person might ask, “What does urinating on Ted Kennedy’s grave or kneeling when it’s time to respect the flag have to...

If there is one person on TV who should have the good grace not to raise the issue of the right of a private-sector entity to control speech within its domain, it’s Joy Reid. As the host of an MSNBC show, Reid has a notorious history of shutting down, correcting, reprimanding and even defenestrating conservatives who say things she doesn’t like. For example, when a Republican referred to the “Democrat party,” Reid reprimanded him:“on this show, we say Democratic,” warning him that “we’re going to have to sit down. We’re going to have a talking-to.” Reid similarly shut down another...

NFL players and BLM will be getting together this weekend to demand social justice. Now that they can no longer take a knee during the National Anthem they will be pursuing new ways to display their grievances against America’s racism and protest police brutality. (I’d suggest they consult George Soros as he seems to know how to accomplish his social justice goals.)  As NFL players consider new ways to protest, the rest of the country will be flying, waving and otherwise displaying the flag the thugs seem so bent on disrespecting. The flag that so many gave their all for.As...

It took two years, boycotts by fans, declining TV ratings, growing alarm among advertisers, a drop in the sale of gear and especially a public shaming by President Trump, but the owners of NFL teams have finally decided their players will not be allowed to kneel or make other protests during the playing of the national anthem. The NFL Players Association claims the owners' decision violates the players' "free speech rights." No it doesn't. Players are perfectly free to protest anywhere, anytime they wish, just not at the start of games for which the owners pay them large amounts of...

Conservatives seemingly got a victory this week when the NFL decided to change its policy regarding the national anthem. The NFL decided that players would be allowed to stay in the locker room while the national anthem plays, but the players and personnel that stay on the field will be required to stand for the anthem. President Trump reaffirmed his support for the decision by saying that players who don’t stand for the national anthem maybe “shouldn’t be in the country.” Leftists were outraged. This is a lot of controversy for such a small gesture, but I feel that both...

NEW YORK — Civil rights activists protested outside NFL headquarters Friday, calling on team owners to overturn their new national anthem policy and urging a boycott of the league and its sponsors. About 50 people gathered at the midtown Manhattan office building for a rally organized by National Action Network, a civil rights nonprofit. Kirsten John Foy, the group's northeast regional director, was the first of 10 speakers who took turns during the 40-minute demonstration to criticize NFL team owners and President Donald Trump. "Our demand is that the NFL reverse that immoral and unconstitutional decision," Foy said....

The NAACP criticized the NFL on Wednesday for its decision to ban players from kneeling during the national anthem. “Protest is an American tradition; by protesting we work to hold our country accountable to its highest ideals,” the NAACP said in a statement. “Instead of coming together to address an issue disproportionately plaguing the African-American, the NFL owners have chosen to bury their heads and silence players.” The association also pointed to the issue of police brutality toward black men

The United States is in the grips of a free-speech paradox. At the same time that the law provides more protection to personal expression than at any time in the nation’s history, large numbers of Americans feel less free to speak. The culprit isn’t government censorship but instead corporate, community and peer intimidation. Conservatives can recite the names of the publicly shamed from memory. There was Brendan Eich, hounded out of Mozilla for donating to a California ballot initiative that defined marriage as the union of a man and woman. There was James Damore, abruptly terminated from Google after he...

There's reportedly one big reason why the NFL took sweeping action Wednesday in adopting a new national anthem policy prior to the start of the 2018 season. And he resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington. “Our league is f-----g terrified of Trump. We're scared of him,” one unnamed source told Bleacher Report as reaction to the plan poured in. After a tumultuous 2017 season, which saw NFL attendance and TV ratings drop as President Trump and others criticized on-field protests by many of the league's players, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced this week that the league would fine any...

A few days ago, Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin was hoping he wouldn’t be in a position anytime soon to be asked a question about the national anthem and a statement by president Donald Trump that would result in a headline-making comment. Baldwin, like many of his NFL-playing counterparts, thought the issue of players making protests during the anthem was receding and the focus turning to the league acting in concert with players to address their concerns that led to the protests in the first place.