Posted on 09/25/2017 12:07:57 AM PDT by Enlightened1
President Donald Trump on Sunday urged fans to boycott National Football League games to pressure it to fire or suspend players who kneel in protest during the national anthem, intensifying a battle over politics, social justice and race in America's most popular sport.
But in the first NFL game since Trump touched off the spat Friday with an expletive-laden speech to supporters in Alabama, at least a dozen players on the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonsville Jaguars, playing in London, took a knee Sunday during the playing of "The Star-Spangled banner."
Others stood and locked arms in a show of solidarity. More protests were expected Sunday as the rest of the games of week three of the season were played.
It was one of the largest such protests since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is African American, first began refusing to stand for the anthem in 2016.
The protest spread Saturday to Major League Baseball for the first time: a black Oakland Athletics catcher named Bruce Maxwell knelt during the anthem before a game in California.
Trump's latest salvo came in an early morning tweet in which he said: "If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag and Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!"
"NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.," he said.
NFL ratings are in fact down but the decline predates the kneeling-during-the-anthem protests, the New York Times reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
POLL: Have the NFL’s National Anthem protests affected your game viewing?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3588576/posts
DJT unleashed!
Ok, the Donald. As you wish.
really?
Time to give the NFL the Hollywood treatment. They have 100% earned it.
“Trump touched off the spat Friday with an expletive-laden speech.”
I thought that “expletive” referred to certain four letter words... none of which Trump said during his speech. Six year olds say “son of a bitch” on the Disney channel these days.
Trump didn’t touch anything off. This has been going on since before his election. For whatever reason the race baiters have chosen the NFL for their next hate campaign and everybody in the country knows it.
Empty stadiums!
Overpayed wannabe looters the most of them.
Good strategic move. It will now be much harder to spin the decline in interest in football as being due to other factors.
Why don’t these protesting players pack up and head for Africa? There must be a football league there they can play for and be paid millions and they can protest to their hearts’ content.
I think it’s called the AFL (African Football League).
Trump “touched off the spat...”
Where to even start with this comment
Quit wasting my time and money on these gang banging anti-American blacks a long time ago and NEVER looked back.
Amused. Stopped watching TV after 9/11.
Are they going to let those traitors back into our country? Standing on foreign soil and denouncing and insulting the United States is treason in my opinion.
I must admit that I never like the Ravens; their behavior in a foreign land is very embarrassing! What do the people of England think of such behavior?
I think that dipsh8t Kaperneck started it.
The players kneeling etc. are Useful Idiots. Low IQ types manipulated into thinkinv it’s a good thing. Behind the scenes pulling their strings are communists. It’s a basic communist tactic. Sure smells like them. It’s what they do.
Trump knows this, and is one reason why he chose this particular battle.
Imho only.
THESE NFL KNEELERS AND NO SHOWS ARE COWARDS!
I’d like to see every National Anthem from now on sung by a group of COMBAT VETERANS, AMPUTEES, AND THOSE IN WHEELCHAIRS. They should publicly shame these multimillionaire brats who are kneelers and no shows. Shame on them all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.