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Another Take on NFL Protests
For me the football protest was never about disrespect to the American flag. It was about inserting politics where it doesn’t belong. Football players are far from voiceless. There is no particular need for them to hijack a portion of the game that is not theirs to pirate.
Their fans, on the other hand, must simply sit there and observe the mini protest as a small unexpected price attached to their tickets. The NFL, month by month, is sinking into unrelated and unnecessary causes, never going far enough for a casus belli, just enough to move the cause a bit further on. Do football games eventually become little more than Kabuki theater for SJW causes?
And the precedent of course is that employees may insert social comment when dealing with customers — with or without the permission of their boss. Starbucks did it with their race relation discussions before handing over the coffee. Stores are asking for donations to one cause or another to be added to the bill. Anyone familiar with story of the camel and tent knows where it goes from here. Your next trip to Lowe’s may involve a discussion of abortion rights.
Even commentators on the right have defended the players’ actions as free speech. Does this mean that companies must provide a platform for their employees to vent their views? Once again the Bill of Rights continues to evolve from constraints on the government to obligations on the governed.
Instead of letting the football issue fester and grow, Trump has brought the issue to the fore. Fans have a stark choice. Accept the SJW-ification of the sport or not. No government involvement needed. No organized protest needed. Here is a chance to show that aligning to social causes can be a frighteningly expensive experiment for a company. The disrespect to the flag just makes the boycott decision easier.
Isn’t this the complaint that conservatives have about the culture, that it moves relentlessly leftward? Exposing these festering sores, forcing the issue, is how that gets fixed.
Published in Sports
You got it right. And I’m not totally certain that the NFL understands that the main thing wrong with this is that it is inappropriately inserted into their customer relationship. They seem to be interested in the argument concerning whether the various acts are disrespectful to our flag and national anthem or not. Some are, some are not. But if they don’t figure this out and make a quick adjustment, they will suffer. And we don’t even have to get to the validity of the particular claims being made as part of the protests.
Thank you for posting. I agree.
Free speech was never the issue here. You can say what you want but it may have consequences if you do. It’s understandable that commentators on the Left would not understand this, either by being willfully ignorant or just plain ignorant. Less excusable are the commentators (allegedly) on the Right who don’t get it. They should understand the concept of negative rights.
Players are welcome to express themselves as they see fit, the owners can fire them (or not) as they see fit, and the fans (customers) can punish the teams as they see fit. As you correctly observe, the Bill of Rights has nothing to do with this.
This is what has caused the negative fan response. Kaepernick is said to have consulted a Green Beret about protesting by kneeling during the National Anthem. He apparently failed to know or care that there were in place league rules regarding appropriate behavior. So the league had a choice to make and they made one that set the fans on fire. And this happens without discussion of the specifics regarding any disrespect to the country of justification for the protests. Not sure the league has this figured this out yet. They should have held to their rule and disciplined player/protesters when they violated those rules.
I’m looking forward to October. The NFL might be decked out in pink to raise awareness for breast cancer, but October is also Domestic Violence Awareness month. And then it occurred to me this is the real reason NFL players fear the police.
Precisely, a free market solution. But the issue might have slipped quietly into a precedent and not full blown outrage if not for Trump’s comments.
There is a lesson here. To halt the degradation of the culture it is necessary to call out transgressions, loudly and clearly. Present the implications in a stark manner then let folks vote with their feet.
Good point. I hope the fans walk. A large segment agrees with Trump and your point here, I pray they love this country more than pro football.
There is no win for the kneelers and the NFL (and network whores who idolized the kneelers). What is it? You are ungrateful? You hate the flag and country? You are promoting a lie to attack cops in defense of criminals? You think cops are racist? You think I am privileged? You think I am racist? You just want attention? So to NFL and players (except a few patriotic teams), screw you.
Wow, you’re right–this IS just part of a larger trend where corps allow their SJW employees to badger a captive audience. Skru U, I will make up my own mind about all issues, Mrs. B. Hussein notwithstanding…
Conceivably, if the NFL fans decide that they can live with this, the kneelers and the NFL could “win.”
The NBA has told their players to stand. Seems like a wise business decision. The NFL should take a lesson.
I agree, President Trump did the right thing to call them out. No more standing down.
We should all be ok now. Everyone settle down. Colin Kaepernick has finally been hired.
17 years of watching the Detroit Lions and I only missed one televised game until two weeks ago, when eight players knelt. Two weeks ago was the first time any players knelt from the Lions. Then, they knelt again this week. Now I’ve missed three televised games in 17 years. My point? I’m a dedicated, loyal fan, and my family packed up all their gear, memorabilia, and our family tradition of Lions fandom and packed it away in storage. Like any good American, we gave them a second chance. We didn’t have the heart to burn the gifts we’ve received and given each other over the years. Sad. The NFL has rules they are not enforcing that they DID enforce on other, less controversial stands. Again, the fear of being called “racist” rules the day in America. Make no mistake, this protest was co-opted to become a stand (kneel) against the President. The kneeling NFL employees chose to disrespect one of few unifying symbols (ideals) left in our country in favor of their distaste for the President. This was not a protest against inequality. We are not that stupid. Country before football in our house any day of the week.
I didn’t watch a single game and had an amazing, peaceful day, quietly reading and enjoying my porch.
Right on! I finally got that programmable thermostat installed, and it was as big a pain as I expected! (I have a heat pump)
I got my football fix by watching college teams all day Saturday. I’m thinking I am taking back my Sundays and the NFL doesn’t exist any more.
You are the true hero. I watch Cowboys and Texans (oops, I mean used to watch) but it wasn’t every week and I only had a little bit of memorabilia in my house. So the “sacrifice” for me was very small. For you, however, you are talking about changing your entire life.
If the “unity” with the Hate The Cops organizations in the NFL continues, I hope you will do like others I have seen on YouTube and take those boxes out back, dig a pit, pour on the lighter fluid, and Flame On!
Cowboys and Texans are still patriotic.