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Title: Wave of protests grip NFL after Trump urges fan boycott
Source:
Yahoo News
URL Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-ur ... m-protests-154638135--spt.html
Published: Sep 25, 2017
Author: [AFP] Rob Woollard with Daniel Woolls
Post Date: 2017-09-25 07:31:52 by IbJensen
Keywords: None
Views: 3249
Comments: 24
A wave of protests swept across the National Football League on Sunday as President Donald Trump escalated his feud with players who kneel during the US national anthem to draw attention to racial injustice. Trump ignited a firestorm of criticism after comments on Friday in which he described NFL players who chose to take a knee through renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as "sons of bitches" who should be fired. The US leader doubled down on those remarks in an early morning tweet, urging fans to boycott the NFL as long as the protests continued. "If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!" Trump wrote. Yet players throughout America's most popular sport took a defiant stance just hours later, kneeling, linking arms or raising clenched fists during the anthem. More than 150 players could be seen kneeling or sitting in the 14 games that took place Sunday, easily the largest such demonstration since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first began protesting in 2016. One of the biggest protests took place in the nation's capital, where almost the entire lineup of the Oakland Raiders team sat on their bench ahead of their game with the Washington Redskins. A day of demonstrations began at the London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium, where a large number of players from both teams knelt. In Nashville, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans took to the field to observe the national anthem. "We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of this color in this country," Seattle players said in a statement just prior to kickoff. - 'Deeply disappointed' - In Foxborough, around 15 members of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots took a knee during the anthem. Star quarterback Tom Brady stood but linked arms with his teammates. Reports said the protests were greeted with scattered boos as some fans chanted "Stand up!" Patriots receiver Brandin Cooks, who scored the game-winning touchdown, later explained his decision to kneel, rejecting accusations it was unpatriotic. "A lot of people think we're disrespecting the flag and the military, but my father was a marine, my uncle was a marine, family fought in the Vietnam war -- I have the utmost respect for the men and women that fight for our freedom," Cooks told reporters. In Chicago, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to remain in their locker room during the anthem ahead of their clash with the Bears. Buffalo Bills star Lesean McCoy, who stretched on the turf during the anthem, said: "I can't stand and support something where the leader of our country is acting like a jerk." In Detroit, meanwhile, the singer of the national anthem Rico LaVelle dramatically dropped to his knee at the end of his rendition. At least eight Detroit Lions players were seen kneeling during the anthem while others linked arms. Trump responded to the protests on Twitter. "Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable," he wrote. In subsequent remarks to reporters, Trump denied there was a racial dimension to his criticism of activist athletes, most of whom are black. "This has nothing to do with race or anything else. This has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag," Trump said. The players' protests were the latest twist in a bitter war of words between Trump and US professional sports. On Saturday, he had also drawn a furious backlash from NBA stars after stating on Twitter that the champion Golden State Warriors and star Stephen Curry would not be invited to attend a White House reception. - Protests spread - Trump's outburst drew a stinging response from across the NBA, with Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James describing the US leader as a "bum." The trenchant response from NFL and NBA players to Trump's comments had shown signs of spreading to other leagues, with a baseball player kneeling during the anthem on Saturday. In game one of the WNBA Finals on Sunday, members of the Los Angeles Sparks remained in their dressing room during the anthem. Their opponents, the Minnesota Lynx, stood to attention with arms locked. Track and field star Allyson Felix, a six-time Olympic gold medallist, also spoke out in support of the protests. "Enough is enough. We have the power to create change," she said. Kaepernick's protest was aimed at drawing more attention to treatment of minorities in America following a spate of deadly police shootings of black men. Critics counter that the protests are disrespectful of the country and its military. Poster Comment: These protesters are not African Americans; rather they've made up their weak minds to the fact that they're really AFRICANS! So, be proud of your choice and move to Zimbabwe or to Kenya or some other African third world hell hole. Chuck that jersey and those multi-million dollar team positions gained just because you weigh as much as a refrigerator. Since the majority of this nation isn't African they may tire of watching African millionaires romp about in the mud or on astro- turf. The NFL has died! The president ws stating his opinion on this growing "leftest inspired attack" on all who defend the constitution, the military and all those who sacrificed for America. These players, who have the freedom to get millions to play a game and still show hate for the USA and its institutions, should be shunned.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
#4. To: IbJensen (#0)
I'm waiting to see whether ratings drop dramatically. If, say, 10% of the public tunes the NFL out entirely which would result in loss of income for the teams from their broadcast rights. Another key measure will be drops in the sale of very overpriced NFL merchandise. Or in the endorsement deals for retired athletes. Some of this will take a while to play out. I could easily see parents, who already knew how stupid it was to spend $300+ for a $5 NFL jersey or $600+ for some NBA tennis shoes produced by child labor, might use this as an excuse to say no to their kid wanting this ridiculous merchandise. Will people stop having their big football parties or seeing some people reluctant to keep attending them? Some of this will take a while to emerge. The NFL may take a short-term temporary hit and then people just forget about it. I wonder how Fox News will cover it. They could (and will) slam the hell out of the kneelers but they won't go the distance with it, in large part because the affiliated Fox Sports has been a huge moneymaker for their owner and ruining the NFL means all you have left are HS and college football with no chance at big mulimillion contracts as a payoff for hard work and talent for HS and college players.
by John Nolte [excerpt] You would think that this firestorm would have resulted in record ratings for Sunday Night Football, or at least a ratings boost. Unfortunately for the anti-American NFL, the exact opposite proved true with an 8 percent drop in viewership, compared to last week. This is a new season low. Compared to this time last year, the ratings decline was in the double-digits, a full 10 percent. Wait a week or two. There were about 160 clowns, joined by owners this week. Maybe President Trump will issue an order as Commander-in-Chief that, because the NFL officially condones disrespect to the flag and the national anthem, no member of the military in uniform shall attend or participate in any NFL game or function.
#9. To: nolu chan, redleghunter (#8)
I'm not sure how that would play out. Maybe the NFL would bite the bullet and just get rid of the anthem, claiming it's too controversial to playas or the audience or something. I suppose most people think the anthem and the pledge are things that we've had from the founding of the republic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. "Hail, Columbia" served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", whose melody is identical to "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem,[3] also served as a de facto anthem.[4] Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs emerged to compete for popularity at public events, among them "The Star-Spangled Banner", as well as "America the Beautiful". So America rebelled in 1776, 241 years ago. The anthem was adopted by Congress in 1931, only 86 years ago. The Star Spangled Banner had some advantage as a naval theme because Americans of the era became caught up in the notion of being a Great Power and it was seen as vital that we build up our naval forces to extend our influence in seizing portions of the Spanish empire as it collapsed due to the ruinous costs of empire and Spain managed to unload its colonies on us, from Puerto Rico to Cuba to the Philippines. Our foolish citizenry thought we won something but it has been mostly a booby prize to own the former Spanish colonies. The "hirelings" were the British troops (as opposed to the colonial militias fighting for their homeland) and the "slave" refers to these ~200 ex-slave Colonial Marines. The illustration at the right is their summer uniform that would have been worn when they helped the British burn the Capitol and the White House. In colder weather or in formal battle, they would have worn the hated Redcoats, assuming the British had any extras for the runaway slaves to wear. So this raises the spectre of inciting slave revolt which the British certainly did and which Lincoln later exploited with his Emancipation Proclamation (which of course did not "free" any slaves in Union territories but only in the Confederacy). I've been thinking that at some point soon, we'll hear some black singer at an NFL game replace the first verse of the Banner with the third verse of the Banner in a major performance. And people will suddenly notice the words "hireling and slave" in there. Then all SJW hell will break loose on the anthem itself, not just at NFL games but any public performance of it, using it in the public schools, et cetera. Politically, the Banner is a pile of gas-soaked rags laying there, just waiting for one singer to throw a lit match by singing that volatile third verse. What happens when every black kid in America starts to take the knee for the anthem or turns their back on the flag in public due to that third verse? The days of To Anacreon In Heav'n may be numbered. Tick-tick-tick...
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#8. To: Tooconservative, IbJensen (#4)
I'm waiting to see whether ratings drop dramatically. If, say, 10% of the public tunes the NFL out entirely which would result in loss of income for the teams from their broadcast rights.
NFL Backlash: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Hit With Season-Low Ratings
Breitbart
25 Sep 2017
Replies to Comment # 8. Maybe President Trump will issue an order as Commander-in-Chief that, because the NFL officially condones disrespect to the flag and the national anthem, no member of the military in uniform shall attend or participate in any NFL game or function.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover. 
I think that if the anthem controversy continues long enough, you'll see the anthem itself become the controversy. Look at who Francis Scott Key was, his defeat as a lieutenant of the defense forces in the War of 1812, his command's defeat by British forces who used emancipated slaves in the force that defeated Key soundly a few weeks before he wrote the Banner, and then look at the words of the Banner's third verse. And the ~200 runaway slaves (British Colonial Marines) who worked for the Brits also took part in burning the White House, the capitol and the Library of Congress as well. It ain't so pretty when you know the whole story. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 8.
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