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The Morality of #StandForTheAnthem Crowd

What better time is there? A full house, national TV, there is nothing better.

What if the players were to protest after the game or at halftime? These are both still highly televised times in the game that don't involve the flag.
 
What if the players were to protest after the game or at halftime? These are both still highly televised times in the game that don't involve the flag.
No one is there after the game, thats why its called the end. At halftime no one watches .
 
What better time is there? A full house, national TV, there is nothing better.

Perhaps there isn't a better time and a NFL game is the perfect time. However, maybe there could be an alternative? Like maybe the players could all wear symbolic gloves or armbands than unifies them and shows what they stand for but still doesn't affect the flag our disrespect our country as a whole. I think that there are many alternatives and that they really could work.
 
The constitution gives us the right to protest any time we want and in any manner we want, in any forum we want. Don't like it, but its about what we fought and died for.

Yes you are very right that the constitution gives us the right to protest. With that said, not only did we fight and die for that right, but we fought and died for our flag and our country and I feel like the players could find a way to protest without disrespecting so many people, and some people who gave their lives for the flag and our country.
 
The NFL has been under the spotlight in recent weeks in part to Donald Trump's speech rallying his base against the NFL, or more specifically, the NFL athletes that took a knee during the National Anthem to protest police brutality in the United States. In response to Trump calling the NFL players that took a knee during the National Anthem "sons of bitches" that should be fired. Then the sports world erupted into flames with hashtags and tweets back and forth from the crowd of people who believe in free speech, and the crowd of people who hate opposing viewpoints and appreciate the President of the free world openly calling for censorship of dissenting views. It got so bad, the anti-kneeling crowd called for boycotts of the NFL to hurt their bottom line for daring to condone free, harmless demonstration. By demanding players to display patriotism and respect, you're ironically not displaying any of the values you claim the flag represents for you.

But this thread isn't to discuss whether the players that took a knee are right, or if they're wrong. It's been discussed relentlessly on this board and it's clear that the pro-censorship, anti-American Trump supporters do not care for American values when it opposes their President. What needs to be discussed is that this feverish boycott of the NFL by a silent minority was only brought upon by the NFL and the NFLPA condoning peaceful demonstration than the other demons the NFL has been beaten to death with year after year but met by total silence by Trump and his fan base.

A kicker for the New York Giants can serially abuse his wife and child. Josh Brown of the Giants can beat, and assault his family to the point where the Giants not only swept it under the rug, but tried to mitigate the damage by booking Brown's family in a different hotel than with Josh Brown. Trump never spoke up against that, he never called Josh Brown a son of a bitch that should be fired. Adrian Peterson beat his child with a switch so violently, his son's scrotum was damaged and bruised. The NFL only acted after backlash from their initial inaction to Peterson's arrest. Again Trump and the Alt-right never called for a boycott. Same with Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald, TJ Ward, or Ray Rice.

Let alone the fact that Trump never called Roger Goodell a son of a bitch for Goodell's efforts to hide CTE and pretend like the consistent head trauma being inflicted to NFL players on a weekly basis is slowly killing them and turning their brains into mush. That Goodell and the NFL have actively attempted to hinder research into CTE and concussions in order to refuse blame for the injuries and damage these players take in order to line the pockets of the billionaire teams that they crushed their own skulls for.

But the worst thing about all of this isn't their total apathy to actual concerns and issues, but rather their final straw to rally for a boycott? It was a simple gesture of kneeling during the anthem. What stir their blood more than the NFL actively covering up Ray Rice knocking out his wife in a hotel elevator and dragging her knocked out body like a rag doll was a back up quarterback daring to want to make America great again. But yet, many of the posters here (a majority of which whom never served in the military) will stand on the bodies on the fallen to demand players to stand for the anthem. The men and women who gave everything for this country can not rest for when the Alt-Right and the Trump supporters need to use their bodies as a political cudgel to beat down their opposition. In their attempt to claim the moral high ground, anyone who uses dead troops to bolster their point only dig themselves deeper into their already amoral position

Very few have said or claimed that the players don’t have a right to be heard, or to protest. The issue is the way they are doing it. Maybe you don’t care, as many don’t that they are disrespecting the flag, and what it stands for. But a very large portion of America does. If a player wants to go onto national tv and raise his voice protesting what he perceives as injustice, by all means, I am sure Kimmel, and many other late shows would love to have them as guests, and give them a podium to say their peace.

But to many, the flag and anthem mean a lot. Families have lost loved ones, fighting for that piece of cloth. I can’t respect anyone who disrespects the flag or anthem....for the meaning behind those symbols is what gives you the right to speak your mind. Just remember that there is a time and place for everything, and the gridiron is not the place, and the playing of the anthem is not the time.

There are plenty of media outlets who believe in the cause....use them. Have your say....change minds if you can. I think it will make our country a better and stronger place to live. Just don’t stand on the souls of the guys who died for your rights doing it.
 
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