Why you probably won't be seeing any kneeling players prior to this year's Super Bowl

American Thinker ^ | 01/16/2018 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

It looks as though NBC's plan to show NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem before the Super Bowl has been foiled.  You can blame random chance, player morale, or cosmic justice, but the defilement of our National Anthem before the biggest TV audience of the year is unlikely to happen.  Valerie Richardson reports in the Washington Times:

It appears that NFL players are no longer taking a knee during the [N]ational [A]nthem [–] namely[,] because none of the teams with still[] active protesters has qualified for the postseason.

By the end of the regular season, only five teams featured at least one player regularly sitting or kneeling on the sidelines for the anthem: the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants[,] and the Oakland Raiders.

None of those franchises made the playoffs, even though four of the five did so in the previous season, leading to speculation about whether the take-a-knee protests wound up dragging down team performance along with TV ratings.

"By their actions, the kneelers brought controversy into the locker rooms, and this kind of distraction is always going to be detrimental to team cohesiveness," said Robert Kuykendall, a spokesman for the conservative corporate watchdog 2ndVote.

I have long struggled to understand why wealthy owners of NFL teams tolerated this affront to the taxpayers who lavishly subsidize their new stadiums, and to their fans who skew male and patriotic.  The most plausible theories involve their fear of alienating black players and their desire for acceptance in politically correct high society.  But more than anything else – even money, apparently – they want to be winners (that is, owners of winning teams).

[fortes fortuna juvat]

FACTS:

In 2012 the NFL had an issue with Tim Tebow kneeling for each game to pray, they also had an issue with Tebow wearing John 3:16 as part of his eye-black to avoid glare, and made him take it off.

In 2013 the NFL fined Brandon Marshall for wearing green cleats to raise awareness for people with mental health disorders.

In 2014 Robert Griffin III (RG3) entered a post-game press conference wearing a shirt that said “Know Jesus Know Peace” but was forced to turn it inside out by an NFL uniform inspector before speaking at the podium.

In 2015 DeAngelo Williams was fined for wearing “Find the Cure” eye black for breast cancer awareness.

In 2015 William Gay was fined for wearing purple cleats to raise awareness for domestic violence. (Not that the NFL has a domestic violence problem...).

In 2016 the NFL prevented the Dallas Cowboys from wearing a decal on their helmet in honor of 5 Dallas Police officers killed in the line of duty.

In 2016 the NFL threatened to fine players who wanted to wear cleats to commemorate the 15th anniversary of 9/11.

So tell me again how the NFL supports free speech and expression, all of a sudden...

It seems quite clear based on these facts that the NFL has taken a position against any action by NFL players demonstrating RESPECT for any issue: For God, social causes such as mental health, cancer, domestic violence, for cops killed arbitrarily for being cops, for the Memory of 9/11...

But, they will allow demonstrations of DISRESPECT for our National Flag, our National Anthem, for America, and for the American People, if it will help mollify a particular Group and its supporters (such as BLM, and other leftists)

That is who and what the NFL has shown itself to be.

[Bullish]

The imbecilic America haters that kneeled couldn't care less how much it's hurt their teams or the NFL fan base. The only thing they would care about is their contracts being reduced by millions and the teams should make that happen... But they won't.

[TChris]

Dittos

[Alberta's Child]

It wouldn’t be a jury in a civil lawsuit. It would be an arbitration hearing before arbitrators who specialize in labor issues.

[Alberta's Child]

One thing I like about FreeRepublic is that you can always tell the A-holes who never had a position of managerial responsibility but somehow seem to know everything about how it’s supposed to be done from the employer’s standpoint.

[Alberta's Child]

The biggest problem with the "kneelers" in the NFL this season is that nearly every one of them performed below his expectations and level of talent. That actually reflects the main point of this article, and explains why most of them probably won't be playing for their current NFL teams next year.

It turns out that most of those malcontents and losers had more in common with Colin Kaepernick than they ever imagined.

[kosciusko51]

Why did you stop your rant? Did you run out of ad hominems?

[beergarden]

because unlike you, I have a life. See Im back for a couple of hours so I can put your snitch ass back in place :)

[beergarden]

Man that’s rich. A tool of the left? Look at yourself in the mirror clown and you might start laughing.

Why dont you watch hockey or rugby then? Why are you tools so persistent to watch animals knee=drop at the expense of my country?

Oh I know, you CANT, can you?

[edzo4]

Because I’m not a hypersensitive snowflake. And I do watch hockey too. And I can separate the stupid liberal individual trying to use the scope of the NFL as their soapbox from the entity of the NFL being used as the soapbox. And if I left leftist idiots pollute what I like with their stupid ideas I’d have to boycott music television books the United States and so on. I choose instead to fight their idiocy without depriving my self of something I enjoy. You tool of the left. Just like I don’t have to boycott all of free republic just cause a dolt like you is here.

[Thibodeaux]

Your act of separation is actually rationalization. You accept the anti american actions because it is easier to accept than to reject

The kneegro organizers know the gullible like you will lazily roll over

[edzo4]

And why would I care what your racist ass thinks?

[edzo4]

Btw an idiot like kapernick is no more representative of the rest of the NFL as your racist ignorant ass is not representative of everyone on free republic.

[Thibodeaux]

You have consumed the Koolade.

You confuse racism with cultural analysis. The Black Jock culture has been co opted by the forces controlling Black Lives Matter and the other racist black subcultural elements

The racial politicization of football is a national travesty

[edzo4]

No I'm just basing it on your ignorant kneegroes comment.

[edzo4]

And the fact your screen name sounds like a plantation owner’s name, like redneck doofus from the bayou that used to own themselves a whole bunch of kneegroes

[Mears]

bfl

[Thibodeaux]

The white men are weak and jocks, just part of the gang

Thibodeaux is a good Houston name, Texas

[edzo4]

They are just kneegroe lovers no better than a kneegroe themselves, right?

The Thibodeaux massacre was a racial attack mounted by white paramilitaries in Louisiana in November 1887. It followed a three-week strike by an estimated 10,000 workers against sugar cane plantations in four parishes in the critical harvest season.

[Thibodeaux]

Right. And and don’t forget....... they are jocks