That seems fair to me. The players are representing their team and fans. They are paid to play ball, not make a political statement.
Players union wasn't consulted lol
Yeah this is going to end well
Freedom of speech as long as it's what you want to hear.
Stupidest hot take
These players are people. I get that for a lot of people they go "Oh just go play your stupid sports and shut the fuck up, who cares what you have to say" but they're people who exist and live in the same cities and cultures as the rest of us do.
And clearly there is a problem with racial inequality in the US. Football players deciding to silently protest in a polite manner like this is so far from deserving of this kind of treatment or thought process.
This shit is unacceptable. Not because players are kneeling, but because the country is in a bad state and rather than acknowledge that, many people are looking to scapegoat the wrong fucking people.
Isn't this like, suppressing freedom of speech?
Honestly the "people in [x] should stay out of politics" argument went right out the window when a former reality show host and failing businessman was elected president.
Unless their fans want to call attention to racial inequality in which case fuck em
Ok. Then lets remove the national song from all sports events. No more national anthem.
Yes, because football supercedes rights.
"... only applies to relations between you and the government and not between yourself and private parties ..."
Something to that effect usually gets said whenever free speech gets mentioned in threads like the ones where neo nazis or whatever get dunked on by various businesses or similar.
It's more insulting when singers like Fergie butcher the national anthem by doing flashy renditions of it imo
It's not the government doing it.
I didn't know the NFL was a federal organization.
The thing is, standing for the anthem is just as much of a political statement, it's just the accepted one
It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. The players are EMPLOYED by the NFL and if the NFL doesn't want to be represented by protesting in the national anthem during their own event it is in their complete right to dish out regulations. Obviously, firing players would be hurtful to their business so they have had to regulate it in other ways.
Let's put it this way, if the NFL found it to be beneficial for players to protest (aka they can make money off it) then i guarantee you they would not try to stop it at all. But the reality is majority
of NFL fans find the kneeling to be disrespectful. So it's hurting their reputation.
Btw they can stay in the lockerroom if they wish during the anthem. They just can’t kneel. An uneasy solution, but better than forcing players on the field and standing.
Looks like we are moving the player's strike up a few years.
Id be happy if they did, bullshit you enforce people to pledge to an ideology they don't agree with.
Forcing a political statement, as an organization, forcing all the players to stand, is just as political as not allowing them to make their own statement.
Then get fined, take a pay cut, get fired, do whatever they need to do. They are working under the NFL's rules. They are the employer. Again, nobody is forcing them to stand out in the field. The fact that they will allow them to chill in the locker room is completely fair to me.
The National Anthem simply should not be played at sporting events.
Do not create a political situation if you don't want people with different political views to share their views.
They're free to do whatever the fuck they want
And everyone who wants to, is free to criticize their decisions.
They don't have a right to protest, this is true, but we also have Fox News hosts telling ball players, when asked political questions, to "Shut up and dribble". There is a clear, present and
obvious double standard as to who can protest, and who can say what. The media is being very clear with the message "black sports stars should shut the fuck up about the political climate
of the USA". They're free to do that.
They're also free to bear the inevitable backlash.
they are going to kneel anyway lol.
So then we are in complete agreement? The NFL's response is completely fair. Players will either stand during the anthem, go back out of sight, or they will be fined. Nobody is forcing them to stand for the anthem, but don't expect to have their cake and eat it too.
Its fair if my political views are allowed, but not yours. You get to stay in the locker room instead. Honestly the people pissing themselves mad are the people crying because a 10x10 pixel of a player was shown in a sweeping shot and was kneeling. If they were real fucking americans, they would be happy that a fellow american is protesting.
They have the option to stay in the locker rooms during the national anthem. They just can't actively protest while at their job, playing in the greatest institution for the most popular American
pastime. Football and America are essentially synonymous in that regard.
Is it? I'd probably call it more of a cultural thing than a political statement. But I guess "culture" and "accepted political statements" go hand in hand.
I just know I wasn't making a political statement when saying the pledge of allegiance in school. I was told to, and everyone else was doing it.
The only people getting their cake and eating it too is the NFL. If they don't wanf political discourse, then don't bring any politics into the game.
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