NFL Anthem Policy

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by mooby

Well that went further than I thought it would. Anyways, I find it a little hilarious this is only such a big issue now simply because Trump kept bringing it back up.

Does anybody remember the end of last season when barely any teams/players were doing it? And Kaep/Reid have been blackballed by the league. If Trump had ignored it, it would've gone away, it was barely even getting media coverage towards the end.

Now it's issue A1 again.

Even though I agree with the players, I believe Daseal makes a legitimate argument as to why this is bad for the NFL, which kinda forced their hand. OTOH, I empathize with the players' cause even if it has been hijacked into "they hate America" in laments terms.

For the time & place argument, I agree in that there are other options (why not lead peaceful marches in your hometown, volunteer work, etc.?) but I see why they chose to use the biggest stage, because that has the chance to make a big impact. I agree in that their plan didn't work as it seems the focus has been shifted from racial inequality to "why does the NFL allow them to disrespect America" by non-minorities who can't or won't empathize with their cause.

Shame it went this way, I still believe the media attention would've faded in this era of 15 minute news cycles, but it is what it is. Some players will still kneel this fall, the NFL will fine them, and those fines will probably go to charity. I'm still gonna be watching though.

Yup, that pretty much sums up how I feel about it. The issue was well on its way to dying out of its own accord but then the NFL wrapped itself in the flag, patriotism and Trump doubled down. Ta - daaaa instantly it's an issue again.

I understand both sides and am not going to demonize either. As I said, from the owners perspective, they just want this issue to go away so it doesn't affect their bottom line. OTOH, and as mooby said, the players believe strongly in their cause and have used the biggest stage to respectfully make their point.

My biggest issue is in this whole debate is the mischaracterization of the matter as a suppression of free speech. It's not. As I said, the players speech is regulated as employees. Just look at the NFL uniform policies; no free speech there.

There were a thousand better ways for the NFL to address this issue in a manner that treated the players with respect but, instead, the NFL choose the "F you. Do as we say" approach. Stupid. Just plain stupid.