Posted on 09/25/2017 4:29:37 AM PDT by Kaslin
When NFL players began taking knees and raising Black Panther fists during games last year, the NFL had to take swift action. It failed.The result is that football has now become politicized, handing the Left another victory in the culture wars. The news behind the news, however, is where the story gets even more depressing.
Nobody in their right minds objects to freedom of speech. That is, except UC Berkeley, but the university and its students clear have no actual minds to be right in. However, there are strategic decisions that guides when that speech will be the most effective.
Any player who feels strongly enough about his protest for the national anthem owes it to his employer (the team’s owner), the head coach, and his players, to discuss exactly what his feelings are and the most effective manner in which to express them.Any owner or coach would stand behind that player to help him achieve his desired outcome.
The player represents the team’s brand. He represents the city. He represents America, the country that gave him the freedom to excel, to become an elite member in the field of American professional sports. The player is paid millions of dollars. To choose the moment, dictated by tradition, to show disrespect for all of these things, shows exceptionally poor judgment.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is paid well over $40 million annually to protect the league’s reputation and business. He’s done a horrible job the last few years, palming off issues of domestic violence, and failing to take a firm stance regarding the anthem. A simple statement would have sufficed: “The NFL respects and encourages freedom of speech. The NFL also respects America, and strongly encourages all players and staff to stand proudly for our national anthem, and to engage in individual protests on their own time.”
That’s all he had to do. He failed. Now this behavior has spread like a cancer.
The owners are the next line of defense. Who is the one owner who has stood up and made it clear that free speech does not exist on private property, or when you are an employee who represents a brand and a team? Jerry Jones, of course, of the Dallas Cowboy’s. America’s Team.
Ultimately, the responsibility falls on the players. It is a disgrace that any player should fail to stand for the national anthem, considering what this country has done for them. Yet that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Considering the visibility that NFL players have, they would be infinitely more effective calling attention to an issue outside of the game. Pittsburgh Steelers rookie T.J. Watt managed to raise over $30 million for hurricane relief…and then squandered that goodwill by staying in the locker room with the entire Steelers team during this week’s anthem.
Oh, actually not the entire team. Offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva, a former Army Ranger with three tours in Afghanistan, stood on the field for the anthem. That would be a proud American of Hispanic background who recognizes not only what his country has done for him, but honors the flag and his own service by standing for the anthem.
Nobody is saying that Black men and women don’t have reasons to be angry. Yet this statement by the Seahawks makes no sense:
“As a team, we have decided we will not participate in the national anthem. We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country. Out of love for our country and in honor of the sacrifices made on our behalf, we unite to oppose those that would deny our most basic freedoms. We remain committed in continuing to work towards equality and justice for all.
If this is what they want to protest, ignoring the anthem which gave these men the opportunities they have had to succeed, is the wrong way to do it. They should be out in the community every chance they get, and engaging in activities that would actually make a difference. It takes no courage at all to stay in the locker room.Courage would mean doing just about anything else – especially spending time with at-risk youths so that they don’t become “victims of injustice”.
Instead, the only thing that happens when Odell Beckham Jr. raises a Black Panther salute in the endzone does is annoy fans who are there to escape the daily grind of politics.
Of course, the news behind the news is that the swarm of protests is in direct response to President Trump’s tweets that were critical of the NFL’s attitude towards the anthem.This begs a few questions. First, why is the President bothering to get involved?There’s nothing wrong with being a pugilist, but the same rules apply to him about messaging. There doesn’t appear to be an upside in picking this fight.Just like Goodell, a simple statement would have sufficed.
So one must look beyond the tweets to see what the protests are really about. They sure aren’t about what the Seahawks claim, or if they are, then these players are utter hypocrites for not actually engaging in life-changing activities.
No, it’s identity politics.Again. Still. With Blacks comprising 68 percent of the league, this is yet another example of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Millions of Americans have brought into the nonsense that President Trump is anti-semitic, racist, sexist, transgenderist, racist, white nationalist, neo-confederate, racist, homophobic, racist, Nazi, racist, Islamophobic racist bad man who clubs baby seals.
Which, even if that were true, there are still infinitely better ways to protest effectively.
It’s also bad business.Goodell and the owners are driving Americans away from football. Ratings are down again this year, after last year’s decline, which was a direct result of Colin Kaepernick’s temper tantrums. It’s only going to get worse, and it may already be too late.
And in case you think this has nothing to do with the culture wars, ask yourself: the same people defending these NFL crybabies are the same ones who mocked Tim Tebow for kneeling to pray when he was on the field.
Want to kneel at an NFL game? You’ll find me beside Mr. Tebow.
We can all conjur up something to be angry about. But it seems to me that blacks are mad that their culture and traditions can not compete economically within the United States. Affirmitive action did not help. Wefare did not help. Children out of wedlock did not help. Murder in inner cities did not help. Rap culture did not help. Black Liberation Theology did not help. Obama did not help.
The only thing that will help is turn to God for guidance, work hard at whatever job you are capable of, get married, stay married, raise your kids to be good citizens with a work ethic reflected by your own actions, value education, be content with what you have and hope for a better future for your kids.
Only reason I know it, is because I surfed through Game 1 yesterday, while I was looking for the news.
The NFL, if it continues, may be destined for such irrelevancy.
The owners seem to be in a tight spot.
If the owners terminate a Player:
The Player Union will fight any termination of their membership.
ESPN and the Media will paint you as raycist
The Community Organizer will send ANTIFA and BAMN to your home and terrorize your children and wife.
George Soros funded lawyers will sue you and try to bankrupt you.
Thanks Barry Soetoro!
..HEAR HEAR !
I can protest whatever I want - but not on my company’s time. It’s the same with these NFL brats.
They can be compelled to show some respect for our nation abs our flag on company time - or be fired.
I still say Tomlin is a coward and Villanueva is the only man on that team.
I agree with you 100% on that. But that's not Tomlin's decision to make. He's the head coach, not the owner of the team or the general manager. Very few (if any) head coaches actually make player personnel decisions ... they just coach the team with the players they are given.
This all comes down on the NFL team owners ... not the coaches, not the NFL front office, or anyone else.
Tomlin needs to feel heat from somewhere for his comments re; Villanueva in the press conference afterwards, is there any way for that to happen?
For example ... the player can be relegated to the inactive squad for the remainder of the season, and never set foot on the field again for the team. He will still collect his salary for that season, but since NFL contracts are only guaranteed on a year-by-year basis he can be cut from the team after the season is over.
This is actually part of the NFL published rules on behavior on the field. The players are violating it with impunity. They must be fired, fined, benched or otherwise disciplined.
Bye bye, no buy NFL. Hello NASL, La Liga, EPL,Bundesliga, Serie "A" etc., etc, etc.
BTTP
Let's say there was a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr, right before his birthday (holiday), and the announcer at a game said, "Please rise is recognition of MLK, Jr, and all the Civil Rights who sacrificed for their cause." If a few white guys refused to stand, or took a knee, they would be called, crackers, racists and white supremacists.
You don’t bite the hand that feeds. The NFL is demonizing its fan base. It’s time for fans to wake up and show their disgust by not showing up for games. If you already have season tickets, show up and then leave en masse after the Anthem. Tell the owners and Networks that you will not sit there and be insulted by the people whose extravagant lifestyles you are funding.
HA! Don't hold your breath.
>> We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country.
If this country is so horrible, why don’t they move somewhere else? Leftists keep telling us how superior other countries and cultures are. If things are so much better somewhere else, then move.
I would definitely move if there were another country that was more conservative and less socialistic than the US.
When NFL players began taking knees and raising Black Panther fists during games last year, the NFL had to take swift action. It failed.All of the so-called protestors should be cut loose, even if only at the ends of their current contracts. Since very few of them have any non-sports skills, and can't do so much as balance a checkbook, they'll all begin a long downward spiral (sportscasting will be out, as it is for all the protest advocates currently in the biz), and go out the way they'd otherwise have gone out anyway -- killed by a member of their own family, killed by a rival gang, or of exposure while under the influence. Good riddance.
You can say it AGAIN and AGAIN. AMEN!
A simple statement would have sufficed: “The NFL respects and encourages freedom of speech. The NFL also respects America, and strongly encourages all players and staff to stand proudly for our national anthem, and to engage in individual protests on their own time.
That’s all he had to do. He failed.
You're right tgusa - this is part of the culture war and they are playing to win... What's bad for the NFL is we're suited up and ready to get on the field with them. Game on.
from a culture wars perspective, it was probably inevitable that this issue came about.
it seems as if there are very few if any large public venues left that allow celebrating the USA as a nation without protests of this sort.
If black men and women have reasons to be angry it is because the Democrats and teachers’ unions keep their kids trapped in failing schools. The entire narrative of injustice towards blacks is based on lies! The knucklehead who wrote this trying to be “fair” should read Heather MacDonald’s books that prove that cops are not out shooting black guys on a whim. As for prison reform, do people know just how bad a crime someone has to commit to be sent to prison? Inmates are not a bunch of teens who got caught with a joint.
Bump
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