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The Morality of #StandForTheAnthem Crowd

CMPancake

CMPancake

No gods, no masters.
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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. While the US Military may be a uniformed fighting force all sworn to the same oath, we do not all think the same way. The very fact that some feel one way, and others feel differently should give enough cause to bring hesitation to just dragging "the troops" through the mud in order to try and quell a political argument.

Remember America. Sports fans do not care if you beat your wife, or even drive drunk and kill someone. Just as long as before every game your feet are at 10 and two, your helmet is in your left hand and your hand over your heart for the anthem. Even if the irony of being forced to stand at attention for the "land of the free."
 
Why do you make it about Trump and his supporters? People were outraged before Trump said a word about it. It has nothing to do with Trump except he opened his big mouth and stirred the crap up again. Why people act as if this whole thing is new this season is beyond me.

As to the other part, how do you know no one was/is outraged over those other instances? I certainly was. So were others. Just because Trump didn't spout off about it, none of his supporters cared?

First, you can't possibly know that. Second, he wasn't even in the picture when some of those things happened. Third, not everyone who was outraged gives a **** what Trump has to say. That's a big brush you're using.

Regarding the kneeling, you see people have different reasons for being bothered by this whole kneel during the anthem thing. To some it's more personal than others. To my uncle who served in Vietnam and had his buddies die right in front of him, it was total disrespect. And guess what. He hates Trump.

To me, when the announcers says "Please stand to honor the men and women who fought for our country" and you take a knee, **** you. It's as simple as that for me. Has nothing to do with the actual anthem or pride in the country.

Now, I realize they don't say that every game. And again, personally, if they just say "lets rise for the national anthem", I don't care as much. But when I saw that, it certainly bothered me. Many of those players wouldn't be on that field if it wasn't for the people they can't bother to stand to honor.
 
Well now, there's a rant.

Early on you said that this wasn't about the players being right or wrong, but then you proceeded to minimize their act throughout the rest of your OP.

Here's the deal. Kneeling during the anthem is viewed by some in the same like as burning the flag - it's anathema.

To compare that to not publicly denouncing domestic abuse by the players is false equivalency, since we already have laws that punish people who commit domestic abuse, so there is no need for politicians, or anyone, to call out the players for these crimes. We've already agreed as a society that domestic abuse is disgusting and worthy of punishment.

We have not, however, made it a crime to kneel during the anthem, which is why the verdict is still out on this activity.

If Trump, or any politician, were to call for punishment (beyond the law) for a player who punched his wife, most folks would support that. And, that's what happens, those who commit domestic abuse are often fined big bucks by the NFL, so they are punished in excess of the law.

Josh Brown WAS arrested and charged, in addition to being suspended from playing for a length of time. What you have to look at is whether he was punished less than another man who committed the same crime. If the NFL ran interference in his actual charges, then they would be complicit in protecting him. But, where is the evidence that the prosecutors were bribed to go easy on him?

Look, I don't like pro sports. I think they're all overpaid idiots, but I don't feel sorry for those who get hurt on the field, they know what they're getting into after all. They're paid a hell of a lot to take that risk.

What I do care about is the idea that it's okay for Americans to disrespect their nation without being called out for doing so. That's what Trump did - he drew attention to the unpatriotic behavior. He's allowed to do that without citing and condemning every little thing these guys did in other parts of their lives.

He doesn't necessarily have to condemn everything just because he condemns one thing. The President is concerned with patriotism. Let the law handle criminal acts.
 
CMPancake said:
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. While the US Military may be a uniformed fighting force all sworn to the same oath, we do not all think the same way. The very fact that some feel one way, and others feel differently should give enough cause to bring hesitation to just dragging "the troops" through the mud in order to try and quell a political argument.

Remember America. Sports fans do not care if you beat your wife, or even drive drunk and kill someone. Just as long as before every game your feet are at 10 and two, your helmet is in your left hand and your hand over your heart for the anthem. Even if the irony of being forced to stand at attention for the "land of the free."
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You have this morally flawed owner In Jerry Jones that just declared he will allow criminals and wife beaters on his team but not people that 'disrespect the flag?'

He signed Greg Hardy let's remember that. He vigorously defends his RB Ezekiel Elliot, and we still do not know the full details of his trangresssions.
 
The op nailed it.
 
Bucky said:
You have this morally flawed owner In Jerry Jones that just declared he will allow criminals and wife beaters on his team but not people that 'disrespect the flag?'

He signed Greg Hardy let's remember that. He vigorously defends his RB Ezekiel Elliot, and we still do not know the full details of his trangresssions.
Click to expand...

If OJ was younger, he'd be on an NFL team already.
 
CMPancake said:
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.
Click to expand...

You act as if the Democrats and the alt-left do not play politics either? Why did you make your post so political?
 
HowardBThiname said:
He doesn't necessarily have to condemn everything just because he condemns one thing. The President is concerned with patriotism. Let the law handle criminal acts.
Click to expand...

I am unsure President Trump is concerned about Patriotism. I think this was a clever ploy to rev up his base at the expense of the NFL - the same NFL that screwed him years ago during the USFL and blocking him from buying the Buffalo Bills.

That being said, all politicians do this. Barack Obama was probably even worse.
 
holbritter said:
Regarding the kneeling, you see people have different reasons for being bothered by this whole kneel during the anthem thing. To some it's more personal than others. To my uncle who served in Vietnam and had his buddies die right in front of him, it was total disrespect. And guess what. He hates Trump.
Click to expand...

And your Uncle has no right to speak on behalf of the Veteran community, no more than myself, or anyone else who had served. He can be disrespected all he likes by the kneeling, whether what what people feel about the protests are utterly irrelevant. What does matter is whether or not we censor those ideals and the pro-censorship snowflakes won.

HowardBThiname said:
To compare that to not publicly denouncing domestic abuse by the players is false equivalency, since we already have laws that punish people who commit domestic abuse, so there is no need for politicians, or anyone, to call out the players for these crimes. We've already agreed as a society that domestic abuse is disgusting and worthy of punishment.
Click to expand...

And if we truly believed that is abhorrent to do these things then we wouldn't do business with the NFL and call for a boycott. NFL fans have shown they are so willing to forgive the Michael Vicks and Greg Hardys of the world but god forbid you do something that isn't even a crime.
 
CMPancake said:
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.
Click to expand...

No one ever called you a son of a bitch for overstating the effects of CTE, :shrug:

We know that football players are much less likely than other people to kill themselves, and that on average they live longer lives. We know they suffer from depression at about the normal rate. We know that they’re less prone than average men to violent mood swings. We know they’re disproportionately the victims of memory disorders but that the rate is still low in absolute terms, at less than 5 percent. And we believe that CTE affects up to 90 percent of all the men who ever played professional football.

If you look at all those facts together, you might conclude that 1) CTE is indeed a widespread epidemic among former contact-athletes but 2) its clinical effects are pretty modest, since most men who have it are not depressed or otherwise impaired.
Click to expand...

The truth about Will Smith’s Concussion and Bennet Omalu.

This suggests either that CTE is not as widespread as we thought or that the symptoms of CTE are not as severe as we’ve imagined, or both. At the very least, if we take the study’s headline-making finding at face value—that 99 percent of football players’ brains are likely to bear the signs of CTE—then we must acknowledge that, in the vast majority of cases, the presence of those neurofibrillary tangles will have no effect on those players’ well-being.
Click to expand...

The press is overhyping the latest study on CTE in the NFL.
 
HowardBThiname said:
Well now, there's a rant.

Early on you said that this wasn't about the players being right or wrong, but then you proceeded to minimize their act throughout the rest of your OP.

Here's the deal. Kneeling during the anthem is viewed by some in the same like as burning the flag - it's anathema.

To compare that to not publicly denouncing domestic abuse by the players is false equivalency, since we already have laws that punish people who commit domestic abuse, so there is no need for politicians, or anyone, to call out the players for these crimes. We've already agreed as a society that domestic abuse is disgusting and worthy of punishment.

We have not, however, made it a crime to kneel during the anthem, which is why the verdict is still out on this activity.

If Trump, or any politician, were to call for punishment (beyond the law) for a player who punched his wife, most folks would support that. And, that's what happens, those who commit domestic abuse are often fined big bucks by the NFL, so they are punished in excess of the law.

Josh Brown WAS arrested and charged, in addition to being suspended from playing for a length of time. What you have to look at is whether he was punished less than another man who committed the same crime. If the NFL ran interference in his actual charges, then they would be complicit in protecting him. But, where is the evidence that the prosecutors were bribed to go easy on him?

Look, I don't like pro sports. I think they're all overpaid idiots, but I don't feel sorry for those who get hurt on the field, they know what they're getting into after all. They're paid a hell of a lot to take that risk.

What I do care about is the idea that it's okay for Americans to disrespect their nation without being called out for doing so. That's what Trump did - he drew attention to the unpatriotic behavior. He's allowed to do that without citing and condemning every little thing these guys did in other parts of their lives.

He doesn't necessarily have to condemn everything just because he condemns one thing. The President is concerned with patriotism. Let the law handle criminal acts.
Click to expand...

Followers gonna follow. It's what they do.

And William Tell used to be a heroic figure.

Now I guess y'all wish he had missed that apple and killing d his son.

He did refuse to bow to that hat, after all.

If you are standing "or else" then its a hollow gesture.

There is no respect involved if it is mandatory.
 
trouble13 said:
If by nailed it, you mean, a swing and a miss. I agree with you

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

No, as in hit it out of the park.
 
CMPancake said:
And your Uncle has no right to speak on behalf of the Veteran community, no more than myself, or anyone else who had served. He can be disrespected all he likes by the kneeling, whether what what people feel about the protests are utterly irrelevant. What does matter is whether or not we censor those ideals and the pro-censorship snowflakes won.



And if we truly believed that is abhorrent to do these things then we wouldn't do business with the NFL and call for a boycott. NFL fans have shown they are so willing to forgive the Michael Vicks and Greg Hardys of the world but god forbid you do something that isn't even a crime.
Click to expand...

My guess is that once the players stop taking a knee -- they'll be forgiven too.
 
CMPancake said:
And your Uncle has no right to speak on behalf of the Veteran community, no more than myself, or anyone else who had served. He can be disrespected all he likes by the kneeling, whether what what people feel about the protests are utterly irrelevant. What does matter is whether or not we censor those ideals and the pro-censorship snowflakes won.


And if we truly believed that is abhorrent to do these things then we wouldn't do business with the NFL and call for a boycott. NFL fans have shown they are so willing to forgive the Michael Vicks and Greg Hardys of the world but god forbid you do something that isn't even a crime.
Click to expand...

I never said anything about censoring anything! And my uncle is speaking on behalf of NO ONE but himself. Your whole OP is a generalization and a lie, and I'm done trying to explain a different view on it to people who have absolutely no interest in someone else's view, but post crap just to see how many people agree with them.
 
NFL players should not be protesting during the national anthem. One of the biggest reasons I believe that is how disrespectful it is to the soldiers who fought, are fighting right now, and even died for what the flag represents. There are soldiers that do support the protesters, but the majority feel it is disrespectful and I think we should honor their opinion. The NFL players should definitely be allowed to protest given the reasons they are protesting for, but their are ways to protest and get people’s attention without disrespecting the United States of America’s flag. I support the player’s issues they are trying to get attention for like Black Lives Matter and racial injustice. If the player’s would only protest after the game or maybe at halftime, this wouldn’t be an issue and many more people would be sympathetic to their cause. That is why it would benefit both sides if the player’s changed their method of protesting to one that doesn’t involve an American symbol that is held in such high respect for multiple centuries.

Colin Kaepernick started the protests originally to protest against racial injustice and police brutality(Reid). He started off sitting down during the anthem the first game, but then he started kneeling after an in depth talk with a Green Beret veteran that told him it was more respectful to kneel instead of sit(Reid). I give Kaepernick respect for seeking out a veteran to try to be respectful, but the problem is that this particular veteran can’t speak for the countless veterans and current soldiers who share the more popular opinion. This more popular opinion obviously being anti American flag protests.

Kaepernick's protesting gained steam when news crews spotted him protesting the anthem and wrote articles and posted on social media about his actions(Kaine). This is when the storm started brewing between both sides. More players from other teams around the league started joining Kaepernick in his protests and the debate picked up even more.

Now as 2017 has almost come and gone, racial tensions and police controversy has not quieted as originally hope. This has caused many more anthem protests during the 2017 NFL season including the Pittsburgh Steelers during week 3 of the season. They had previously
decided as a team to remain in the tunnel during the national anthem. Except one Pittsburgh player who has served in the military in Afghanistan previously decided that he wasn’t going to disrespect the flag. Alejandro Villanueve was the lone Steeler player to put his arm across his chest and stand on the field that day while the national anthem rang loud and proud(Starnes). He gained national support from citizens who supported him and even had the best selling NFL jersey the following week. This shows how passionate the American people are for their country and won’t tolerate disrespect to it. Whether you like America or not, we are all Americans and should all respect what our ancestors sacrificed to give us the way of life we can live today. I hope that in the future, NFL players will understand that and cease the protesting during the national anthem.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
NFL players should not be protesting during the national anthem. One of the biggest reasons I believe that is how disrespectful it is to the soldiers who fought, are fighting right now, and even died for what the flag represents. There are soldiers that do support the protesters, but the majority feel it is disrespectful and I think we should honor their opinion. The NFL players should definitely be allowed to protest given the reasons they are protesting for, but their are ways to protest and get people’s attention without disrespecting the United States of America’s flag. I support the player’s issues they are trying to get attention for like Black Lives Matter and racial injustice. If the player’s would only protest after the game or maybe at halftime, this wouldn’t be an issue and many more people would be sympathetic to their cause. That is why it would benefit both sides if the player’s changed their method of protesting to one that doesn’t involve an American symbol that is held in such high respect for multiple centuries.

Colin Kaepernick started the protests originally to protest against racial injustice and police brutality(Reid). He started off sitting down during the anthem the first game, but then he started kneeling after an in depth talk with a Green Beret veteran that told him it was more respectful to kneel instead of sit(Reid). I give Kaepernick respect for seeking out a veteran to try to be respectful, but the problem is that this particular veteran can’t speak for the countless veterans and current soldiers who share the more popular opinion. This more popular opinion obviously being anti American flag protests.

Kaepernick's protesting gained steam when news crews spotted him protesting the anthem and wrote articles and posted on social media about his actions(Kaine). This is when the storm started brewing between both sides. More players from other teams around the league started joining Kaepernick in his protests and the debate picked up even more.

Now as 2017 has almost come and gone, racial tensions and police controversy has not quieted as originally hope. This has caused many more anthem protests during the 2017 NFL season including the Pittsburgh Steelers during week 3 of the season. They had previously
decided as a team to remain in the tunnel during the national anthem. Except one Pittsburgh player who has served in the military in Afghanistan previously decided that he wasn’t going to disrespect the flag. Alejandro Villanueve was the lone Steeler player to put his arm across his chest and stand on the field that day while the national anthem rang loud and proud(Starnes). He gained national support from citizens who supported him and even had the best selling NFL jersey the following week. This shows how passionate the American people are for their country and won’t tolerate disrespect to it. Whether you like America or not, we are all Americans and should all respect what our ancestors sacrificed to give us the way of life we can live today. I hope that in the future, NFL players will understand that and cease the protesting during the national anthem.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
NFL players should not be protesting during the national anthem. One of the biggest reasons I believe that is how disrespectful it is to the soldiers who fought, are fighting right now, and even died for what the flag represents. There are soldiers that do support the protesters, but the majority feel it is disrespectful and I think we should honor their opinion. The NFL players should definitely be allowed to protest given the reasons they are protesting for, but their are ways to protest and get people’s attention without disrespecting the United States of America’s flag. I support the player’s issues they are trying to get attention for like Black Lives Matter and racial injustice. If the player’s would only protest after the game or maybe at halftime, this wouldn’t be an issue and many more people would be sympathetic to their cause. That is why it would benefit both sides if the player’s changed their method of protesting to one that doesn’t involve an American symbol that is held in such high respect for multiple centuries.

Colin Kaepernick started the protests originally to protest against racial injustice and police brutality(Reid). He started off sitting down during the anthem the first game, but then he started kneeling after an in depth talk with a Green Beret veteran that told him it was more respectful to kneel instead of sit(Reid). I give Kaepernick respect for seeking out a veteran to try to be respectful, but the problem is that this particular veteran can’t speak for the countless veterans and current soldiers who share the more popular opinion. This more popular opinion obviously being anti American flag protests.

Kaepernick's protesting gained steam when news crews spotted him protesting the anthem and wrote articles and posted on social media about his actions(Kaine). This is when the storm started brewing between both sides. More players from other teams around the league started joining Kaepernick in his protests and the debate picked up even more.

Now as 2017 has almost come and gone, racial tensions and police controversy has not quieted as originally hope. This has caused many more anthem protests during the 2017 NFL season including the Pittsburgh Steelers during week 3 of the season. They had previously
decided as a team to remain in the tunnel during the national anthem. Except one Pittsburgh player who has served in the military in Afghanistan previously decided that he wasn’t going to disrespect the flag. Alejandro Villanueve was the lone Steeler player to put his arm across his chest and stand on the field that day while the national anthem rang loud and proud(Starnes). He gained national support from citizens who supported him and even had the best selling NFL jersey the following week. This shows how passionate the American people are for their country and won’t tolerate disrespect to it. Whether you like America or not, we are all Americans and should all respect what our ancestors sacrificed to give us the way of life we can live today. I hope that in the future, NFL players will understand that and cease the protesting during the national anthem.
Click to expand...
1. What they are protesting is a non sequitur when you take into account that the available data does not support their claim. Blacks are the LEAST victimized by police.

2. Even if they were protesting something a legitimate. They are protesting the wrong people. Even if I agreed that they were being victimized more than other ethnicities. There is nothing that football fans have within thier power to do about it.

3. I don't see how they are disrespecting our military. They are disrespecting the consumers of the nfl product. When I was younger the running joke was going to the fights to see a little bit of hockey, now it's become going to a protest to see a little football

4. They are constitutional protected to protest all they want even if they are stupid and ignorant, but they are not protected from being fired or tuned out. They made their bed and now they can kneel in it.

I have zero empathy for them, their bosses, the networks, or the sponors.

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
 
NFL players need to find another way to protest

With the recent protest in the NFL amongst multiple teams and players, there has been lots of controversy and discussion. As a whole, the NFL viewership has gone down, which would make one think that more people are against this movement than for it. According to Daniel Kane, with EBSCOhost, the movement started with Colin Kaepernick in the 2016-2017 football season when he decided to take a knee during the national anthem. Kaepernick was trying to make a statement, fighting for equal treatment and police brutality against African Americans. The movement and protest has gained lots of following and national attention. According to Thomson Reuters, with Aol news, even President Trump given the movement attention saying that “Any player who disrespects our country, and our flag like that should be fired” (Aol news, 2017) With all the national attention and negative things that go along with this protest, I think that players should not take part in this movement. I understand that they want to fight for what they believe in, and everyone should be able to do that. However, I think that the disrespect to the flag and our country, and all the things that go along with that like the soldiers and people that have died for the flag, is too harsh for a police brutality movement.
I think that there is a time and a place for everything, including protests, but personally I do not believe that taking a knee for the national anthem is a good way to protest anything. It causes a lot of controversy and an incredible amount of disrespect to our country as a whole and specific people and leaders, that just doesn’t seem worth it. Since Kaepernick started his protest and gained following, almost no change has taken place so the protest almost seems useless at this point. Along with all of that, NFL teams aren’t even willing to sign Kaepernick anymore just because of his affiliation and negative attention he brings because of this movement. I understand and am fully aware that these NFL players would like to protest and stand up for what they believe in. I fully support them in doing that, every American should be able to fight for what they believe in. I just don’t see why disrespecting the country and taking a knee during the national anthem is the choice of protest. Couldn’t they all just wear a specific armband? Or maybe special color shoe laces? Just something that still unifies them, but at the same time doesn’t cause as much hate and negative feelings toward the movement because of the flag. I hope that something changes, or the problem is resolved soon because I fear that the tensions are only getting higher with the more and more people that do it and that something worse will happen down the road.
 
Floridafan said:
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.
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I agree with you that the constitution should have guidelines to when and where you can protest, but I think the players should have enough respect to realize there is a better time and place to protest.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
I agree with you that the constitution should have guidelines to when and where you can protest, but I think the players should have enough respect to realize there is a better time and place to protest.
Click to expand...

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