Posted on 10/10/2017 11:54:15 AM PDT by Enlightened1
A league spokesman said owners will consider player input on the issue, but suggested that a rule change would not require player approval.
The National Football League’s owners will discuss next week whether to unilaterally change league policy and require players to stand during the national anthem.
The decision to consider the change came after weeks of persistent criticism from President Donald Trump about players protesting during the anthem, including his call for fans to boycott games if the demonstrations continue. On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence left an Indianapolis Colts game after members of the San Francisco 49ers took a knee during the anthem.
In a conference call on Tuesday, NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said league officials, owners, fans, and likely certain players are frustrated that the issue has dominated the game in recent weeks. He said owners will consider player input on the issue, but suggested that a rule change would not require player approval.
“I don’t believe that the anthem per se is something that needs to be collectively bargained,” Lockhart said.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has said that league official assured him that players who did not stand for the national anthem would not face penalties.
If the policy is changed, however, players that protest could face discipline from the league.
The NFL manual on game operations says players “should” stand during the national anthem. It does not say they “must” stand, even though that word is used in numerous instances in the manual regarding player behavior during games.
Lockart’s comments followed by hours more tweets from the president assailing the league for not disciplining players who protest during the national anthem.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Secondly, these are highly paid entertainers not hired as crusaders for any cause. For the most part all of them have had a silver spoon in their mouths since junior high school.
Third, there is no "first amendment" issue with suppression their disrespectful behavior. They are private employees of a team franchise not some royal figurehead for a national culture
Other than that....they are spoiled self indulgent and pampered millionaires trying to cash in on others misfortune, ignorance or subversive intentions.
Who cares? If the fans are so disgusted they don’t enjoy it anymore, then they could have dancing bears and no one will watch.
We’ve seen what’s behind the curtain and we don’t want any part of it.
The execs at the NFL are Ivy-League snob types and Manhattan liberal socialites. Many of them probably don't know a single Trump supporter.
It's what makes former Clinton press secretary and NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart sneer that "Trump is out of touch" right before getting his lunch handed to him.
If they weren't such good buds with each other, they'd be fired. Like all lefties who capture executive positions, they aren't increasing the owners' value, that's for sure.
It sure isn’t the same NFL that was born in the fields of Ohio and exploded into the national consciousness on the Frozen Tundra of Green Bay.
Who cares what they decide? The NFL is toast. Good riddance!
The Dallas Cowards for me now. And I WAS a lifelong fan.
They have been exposed as supporters of BLM which is nothing more than a police-hating terrorist group.
The NFL is DEAD to me.
Part 1 of any effective strategy: Fire Goodell.
Money talks, bullshit walks...or kneels.
And, this was THE take-away from this whole debacle. How blacks in this country truly feel about the country -- and its people.
Sorry, NFL, but I don't think you can walk this back. When the mask comes off, it is impossible to convince people that they weren't seeing the true face.
Yep, go to another country and try, just try, to make a living, a good living, a living that makes you a millionaire, in that country. Can't be done. So, do you really think there is another profession/job that you could do that would pay you so well with so many benefits???
I know these guys are not all that intellectual; but, I would have thought that they could have connected their salaries, with the people in the stands and watching on telelvision. Unfortunately, for them, that does not seem to be the case. They insult the country, the flag, it's citizens, and they still think they can demand the big bucks? Children.
Burn the NFL to the ground!
If you don't see that fact, you need to look a little closer.
Any player who refuses to stand now, will notice that when his contract expires, suddenly no team will be interested in signing him.
Because any team that does sign such a player is guaranteed to lose fans and money.
The President—and his supporters, which obviously includes a lot of NFL fans—have won a resounding victory.
ESPN and other sports networks, NFL players, owners, and management, and the Left in general are going to have to "put a little ice on that" for quite a while, until the swelling of their fat lips—caused by a very strong b-tch slap—goes down some...
Don’t change the rules. This former fan would prefer to see them show us what they REALLY think about this country.
“So they’re trying to decide if they’re patriotic or not.”
More like they’re trying to decide whether they can CONVINCE the fans that they really don’t hate our country.
Yep - feeling the heat in the money pot and trying to keep it from bursting into flame.....I’d wager none of the players have the “principles” to actually quit and those who retaliate by not playing at full potential will be weeded out by their own teammates...
“If you don’t see that fact, you need to look a little closer.
Any player who refuses to stand now, will notice that when his contract expires, suddenly no team will be interested in signing him.”
This has played out more the way I predicted on Tuesday.
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