The NFL has now joined the political protests defying President Donald J. Trump’s statements to not kneel during the national anthem. Trump has taken this issue as far as saying it is a disgrace to the American flag and those who fought for the flag. He even suggested that players who choose to kneel should be fired, and since these kneelers have been in action, ratings for the NFL season havebeen down:
Ratings for NFL football are way down except before the game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!
Ratings have been down about 10 percent for the first three weeks of the NFL season and dropped an additional 4 percent after Trump’s remarks before the game on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017.
Get that son of a B**** off the field right now. Out. He’s fired!
With the ratings down, the league can suffer a $200 million loss, the public may be less likely to support tax payer subsidies for stadiums, and donors may stop endorsing teams and stadiums.
All the grandstanding began last year when former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem to protest against the racial inequality and police brutality. He was released from his contract and has not yet signed with a new team. Many are boycotting in the NFL for those same reasons.
Since then, Trump has offended 200 NFL players and seven owners, and the protests continue. One of the most prominent team owners, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, took a knee with his team at Monday’s game.
According to the NFL Code of Conduct, “All employees must refrain from conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL,” but they must also allow regulated speech in the workplace.
Jones stated,
We all agreed that our players wanted to make a statement about unity and equality. I want actions to be louder than words, and we did it we made out statement.
Others have not been supportive of these actions taken by NFL team members and owners. Cincinnati Bengal’s Owner Mike Brown stated,
Football and politics don’t mix easily, fans come to NFL games to watch great competition on the playing field and that is where our focus should be.
Some of these owners that do not support these protests remind the players that the action of kneeling is inappropriate. These owners are coincidentally big dollar donors to President Trump.
Kenneth Havard, a Louisiana Republican legislator, says he will take away millions of dollar in subsidies and tax breaks the New Orleans Saints and the NFL receive, because players are protesting. He stated:
Disrespecting our National Anthem and flag in the name of social injustice is the highest for of hypocrisy. It is time the tax payers quit subsidizing protest on big boy playgrounds. I believe in the right to protest but not tax payer subsidized sporting event.
Brandon Gil, a realtor from Jacksonville, Florida and a Jaguars fan said,
At this point, I want to get away from politics and if they are going to continue to protest, then I do not need to spend my money there.
Everyone is wondering, if the protests continue will this actually change something, override Trumps remarks and suggestion to fire players? Others just want to watch a football game. League executives say they have minimal involvement with the actions of the owners and players.
Written by Nicole Thompson
Edited by Jeanette Smith
Sources :
New York Times: N.F.L Owners’ Unity With Players Might be Short-Lived
USA Today: Quit Grandstanding with NFL Protest and get back to Football
Baltimore Sun: Fans, bars eye Sunday for sign of whether NFL protest will pass or continue
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Jonathan Moreau Flickr’s Page -Creative Commons Licensed