Image via Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images
NFL Institutes New National Anthem Policy Requiring Players To Stand
The NFL owners, commissioner Roger Goodell and head officials are a bunch of sanctimonious cowards who don’t give a damn if Black men and women are dying in the streets as a result of police violence.
The league has just announced that players and all on-field personnel will be REQUIRED to stand for the National Anthem. According to ESPN, if players don’t wish to stand, they have been given the option to stay in the locker room in protest. Which basically doesn’t change anything. Now, instead of cameras taking photos of star players kneeling, cameras will be scouring the sidelines looking for which star players are NOT on the field, and best believe their protest will still be publicly noted.
Owners met in Atlanta this week and agreed to this nonsense unanimously.
As punishment for refusing to stand while on the field, teams will be fined
“This season, all league and team personnel shall stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “Personnel who choose not to stand for the Anthem may stay in the locker room until after the Anthem has been performed.
“We believe today’s decision will keep our focus on the game and the extraordinary athletes who play it — and on our fans who enjoy it.”
No. It won’t and this new rule is as impotent as a the crusty, rich, white guys who own NFL teams.
If the NFL thinks that this gives them the opportunity to pretend as if they believe that Black lives matter, we assure them that the public will not be fooled. In the words of Shawn Carter, “you can’t sell us bulls#!t, we know the prices.”
Colin Kaepernick forever. Poignant reactions on the flip.
This is codifying racism into the game of American football to suppress free speech. The NFL–which receives $ to promote the military– is creating a game rule that specifically penalizes Black athletes' protest of racism & police violence. NFL athletes are majority Black. https://t.co/zeN0iVbszc
— Bree Newsome (@BreeNewsome) May 23, 2018
The NFL is either …
1. Totally tone deaf to the social issues players are kneeling about, and clumsily navigating a changing societal landscape.
2. A racist cartel who'd actually rather silence those voices in the name of commerce.
Hint: It's the second one.
— VanLathan (@VanLathan) May 23, 2018
49ers owner Jed York abstained from voting today on the NFL's new anthem policy. The owner of the team that employed Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid told reporters: "I think there are a lot of reasons, and I'm not going to get into all of those reasons…. https://t.co/OFcWtaMxfl
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) May 23, 2018
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 23, 2018
While new NFL anthem policy makes sense from business & Trump PR perspective and is certainly within league’s rights, there’s just something that feels unAmerican about forcing folks to abide what is, well, the league’s own politics. Feels like a band aid that won’t stick.
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) May 23, 2018
We live in day and age where two world class athletes have been effectively banned from the NFL over a peaceful demonstration.
It's hard to know the time in history that you are living in when you are in it, but we are living in a truly disturbing time. https://t.co/FIZadIOtci
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 23, 2018
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The NFL Owners: We want this protest conversation thing to die off and focus on football.
The NFL Owners, as intellectuals: I wonder what happens if we pour kerosene on these smoldering embers…
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) May 23, 2018
Looking forward to the SHUT UP ABOUT RACISM BECAUSE FREE SPEECH crew applauding the NFL's ban on their players' right to free speech
— Daniel José Older (@djolder) May 23, 2018
I hope the NFL decides to completely stop all concession stand sales during the anthem as well. We wouldn’t want people buying a $10 beer and an $8 hot dog during our sacred anthem.
All TV camera crews must stop filming and direct attention at the flag too.
Just seems fair.— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18) May 23, 2018
The @NFL has told black people loud and clear exactly how they feel about us, our pain, our suffering, our deaths.
They are expecting us to answer by continuing to support them. Please don’t make them right.
— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) May 23, 2018
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