NFL News: Anthem protests led poll of reasons viewers tuned out (terrorists, illegal)
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personally i dont mind talking politics, heck i am here arguing with a lot of people over politics. but there are times when the politics needs to go away. you dont anger your fan base by getting political for a sport. how many people have argued in the past when something contentious about sports came up and they would say, "but its only a sport", and now are pushing the, "but they have a right to peacefully protest in any manner they see fit", mantra for sports players?
You are wrong. The government is not trying to stop them from speaking, or demonstrating. Their EMPLOYER certainly has the right, but is choosing not to, and that's fine. I am choosing to no longer patronize them.
So has Congress, or any branch of government tried to stop the NFL players from protesting, or speaking?
I never said a private employer couldn't take action against an employee for exercising their right to free speech. It's a private company and they have every right to discipline their employees as they see fit. Whether the employer chooses to discipline them or not, the right still exists.
The issue I have is the hypocrisy of conservatives on this issue. These guys are exercising their rights to free speech and a lot of you think they shouldn't even be allowed to express those views. The right to protest is at the very foundation of our country. It just surprises me that people who consider themselves "patriots" can't see that. In essence, that makes these "patriots" anti-American.
Because it's easier to protest the NFL and get mad at the players than it is to understand and recognize their plight.
That and admitting it's not about the flag/anthem itself and therefore not a protest against our military would make them have to think about the situation and that makes some uncomfortable.
Exactly. It seems a lot of folks have gotten sop busy putting down those that are pointing, instead of looking at what they are pointing out.
This has nothing to do with race. If i remember correctly that ex soldier who did stand for the anthem and then came out and said he regretted doing that, he was white.
It is NOT patriotic to honor or respect a tyrannical govt. The founding fathers would likely be disappointed taking a knee was the only thing being done actually.
Isaiah Crowell from the Cleveland Browns. He posted it, deleted it quick after a media firestorm, then apologized. Kept his job because the NFL is racist. Why shouldn't this firefighter be able to keep his job? Whats the difference?
I never said a private employer couldn't take action against an employee for exercising their right to free speech. It's a private company and they have every right to discipline their employees as they see fit. Whether the employer chooses to discipline them or not, the right still exists.
The issue I have is the hypocrisy of conservatives on this issue. These guys are exercising their rights to free speech and a lot of you think they shouldn't even be allowed to express those views. The right to protest is at the very foundation of our country. It just surprises me that people who consider themselves "patriots" can't see that. In essence, that makes these "patriots" anti-American.
you are missing the point here, its not that they are protesting, we have no issue with that, its how they are protesting that was have an issue with. the original intent of the protest has gotten lost among the howls if people on both sides arguing about the protest itself.
Isaiah Crowell from the Cleveland Browns. He posted it, deleted it quick after a media firestorm, then apologized. Kept his job because the NFL is racist. Why shouldn't this firefighter be able to keep his job? Whats the difference?
This is an era where its ok for certain NFL players to post cartoons of BLM/Black Panthers slitting cops' throats but NOT ok for a player to don 9-11 tribute shoes?
So many lefties on here saying "he's the poster child for the alt-right" and he's basically the devil. But they don't speak a word about Antifa.
Whats your stance on Antifa, leftist swine? Answer me that!
Leftist Swine..LOL!! How very 19th century of you. Perhaps next you can threaten him a sound thrashing of fisticuffs if he remains unrepentant in his opinion.
LOL
Generally, people are watching less football because the product is awful, the commercialization unbearable, and because there are alternative means of keeping up with your particular team that were not nearly as ubiquitous 5 years ago. And this is coming from a football fan.
That said, the premise that people are outraged to the point of boycott because players kneeling during the national anthem is disrespectful to America or the military (or even the police) is absurd. America was founded on dissent and the flag is not a symbol for the armed forces or for law enforcement. If you think otherwise, you really do not understand the symbolism and message being sent by the players.
I completely understand the annoyance people have that politics is injected into sport. What I don't understand why this is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back given all of the other non-sport foolishness that has been injected into football for years, not least of which is over-nationalism paid for with your tax dollars that has led to practices like the national anthem at football games in the first instance.
If I'm understanding people right, things like requiring people to suffer through rampant commercialism, forcing people to endure manufactured flag-waving patriotism paid for by the military, and seeing totally inconsistent disciplinary action taken against players who commit immoral acts in the subjective eyes of the NFL commissioner are all endureable, but a short display of silent protest in the form of kneeling (which is easily avoided by not watching) is the thing that detracts so much from one's enjoyment of their relaxation time that a boycott is warranted? Nonsense. None of these things have anything to do with the on-field entertainment and its dumb to consider only one a boycott-worthy offense.
Personally, I think the game has become unbearable for a number of reasons and the kneeling is so innocuous that its a drop in the ocean at this point. But if you were willing to endure all of the other non-sport related shenanigans peddled by the NFL up until now, to now take umbrage at players quietly kneeling before the game even starts in the name of "taking away from my enjoyment of my relaxations time" is just dumb.
I can actually agree with this. I just hit the enough is enough point. I still watch my team when they're on but I tune out of the political nature when it pops up. I've had the same issues with the NFL that you stated above for years and have been slowly tuning out anyway and using other means to keep up also.
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