NFL may change anthem policy next season...

[Nickhead]

if players continue to protest. IMO, it's great news. regardless of how symbolic the anthem is, when you have a bunch of millionaires protesting in front of a crowd that averages about 40K a year in income, it is truly a slap in the face to the ones in paid attendance.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...r-rooms-during

Some NFL owners might consider keeping teams in the locker room during the national anthem next season if player protests continue, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

“I think that if players are still kneeling at the end of the year, then it could very well happen,” a source told the newspaper.

Multiple people told the newspaper that it was too early to tell if league owners would follow through on a new policy, adding that there have not been detailed discussions.

NFL players have protested social justice issues, such as police brutality, since the 2016 season, either kneeling or raising a fist during the national anthem. The issue was brought into the spotlight again in September, when President Trump suggested those taking a knee should be fired.

On Monday, he called for Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch to be suspended for the remainder of the season after Lynch sat for the United States national anthem, but stood for the Mexican anthem during a game in Mexico City.

Players have been spotted protesting each week since Trump's remarks.

The protests have stirred controversy among fans and businesses as well. Papa John's earlier this month suggested the protests were to blame for their sagging sales numbers.

Prior to 2009, teams remained in their locker room for the national anthem. The league policy currently requires players to be on the sideline for the anthem.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

What happened in Las Vegas?

https://youtu.be/jgp2qjfUwWM

[ForeverChiefs58]

So based on the BS lie that he was profiled by a black cop and threatened because of his race, he now says he will do black panthers, black power every time he sacks a white QB

[AssEaterChief]

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

It started with baseball who did it as an act of patriotism to try and get their players excluded from the draft during WWI. Other sports leagues just copied.

And it gained more prominence during WW2

The problem is we have had a bunch of unnecessary wars since then… Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Iraq, Afghanistan

Nobody gives a shit about the military any more, and for good reason.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by AssEaterChief

Nobody gives a shit about the military any more, and for good reason.

This country is neck-deep in absurd military worship

[ForeverChiefs58]

Originally Posted by AssEaterChief

And it gained more prominence during WW2

The problem is we have had a bunch of unnecessary wars since then… Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Iraq, Afghanistan

Nobody gives a shit about the military any more, and for good reason.

Wtf?

Self entitled, spoiled, ignorant, selfish idiots.

Ridiculous. But keep spewing that bullshit and being oblivious.

Let me guess...not your president.

[AssEaterChief]

Originally Posted by ForeverChiefs58

Wtf?

Self entitled, spoiled, ignorant, selfish idiots.

Ridiculous. But keep spewing that bullshit and being oblivious.

Let me guess...not your president.

IDK….I'm a veteran…what did I say that is factually incorrect? Or what do you disagree with….I mute the national anthem any time it comes on tv…or change the channel.

This has nothing to do with who the president is, I don't vote and never have. It doesn't impact my life..

[Dayze]

215 posts in 2+ years.

seems legit.

[beach tribe]

Originally Posted by AssEaterChief

IDK….I'm a veteran…what did I say that is factually incorrect? Or what do you disagree with….I mute the national anthem any time it comes on tv…or change the channel.

This has nothing to do with who the president is, I don't vote and never have. It doesn't impact my life..

Why exactly?

[srvy]

Can we reinstate Bob Dole as mod for mult management?

[ForeverChiefs58]

Interestingly, years ago basketball, which is made up of mostly black players, had a player that was a Muslim, and refused to stand for the anthem. It made fans buying tickets upset.

The very next off season they made it a rule that all basketball players must stand.
Boom problem solved.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Here's a fascinating fact: The national anthem was played at baseball games decades before it was actually the national anthem. There are records of "The Star Spangled Banner" gracing the diamond going back as far as 1897, but the song wasn't adopted as the national anthem until 1931.

Over time, a mix of technology, war, and keeping up appearances kept the song in the sports spotlight. Its first big moment reportedly came in 1918 during the 7th-inning stretch of the World Series.

It's no coincidence that its first surge in popularity came during wartime. Nationalism stoked by World War I meant that people were more affected by the song, and the fact that major league baseball players were being actively drafted meant those who weren't drafted benefited from showing their patriotism. Over time, other sports began adopting the practice.

Historian Marc Ferris wrote a history of the national anthem in which he points out that, at first, the anthem didn't exactly come free.

"The thing is, you had to hire a band," he told NPR in 2016. "That was expensive, so it was only for special occasions," like opening day.

Ferris says that after World War II, sound systems allowed teams and parks to play the anthem sans band. That's when the practice became particularly widespread, because the new tech coincided with a huge swell in patriotism.

After World War II, the commissioner of the NFL at the time, Elmer Layden, made a specific plea to keep the anthem as a game-day tradition.

"The playing of the national anthem should be as much a part of every game as the kickoff," he said. "We must not drop it simply because the war is over. We should never forget what it stands for."

... and NFL players definitely didn't always stand on the sidelines for it.

While the anthem continued to be a game-day fixture, NFL players typically stayed in the locker room for it.

There were exceptions, of course -- players observed the anthem after 9/11, and during Super Bowl games. But it wasn't until 2009 that players were mandated to be on the field for the song.

The US Code says you should stand for the anthem

Section 301 of the United States Code says that during a rendition of the national anthem, people "should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart" (except for uniformed military personnel, who should stand and salute for the length of the song). If you're wearing a hat you're supposed to take it off.

If no flag is on display, people are supposed to face towards the source of the music and behave in the same manner.

There's a separate US Code section for how to respect the flag, implying that the anthem and flag, while often presented together, are different patriotic entities.

Oddly enough, the US flag code doesn't mention the anthem at all. It does mention the Pledge of Allegiance, which "should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart."

but there's no such rule in the NFL rule book

In the "2017 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League," there are no specific directives for what players should do during the national anthem. In fact, neither the anthem nor the flag are ever mentioned.

But what about personal protest? The rule book does touch upon that, but not in any way that could be seen as specific to kneeling during the anthem.

Under Article 8, Section 4, titled "Equipment, Uniforms and Player Appearance," it says:

Throughout the period on game-day that a player is visible to the stadium and television audience (including in pregame warm-ups, in the bench area, and during postgame interviews in the locker room or on the field), players are prohibited from wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages either in writing or illustration, unless such message has been approved in advance by the League office.


In fact, in 2016 the NFL made clear that players were not required to stand for the anthem.

"Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem," the NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said last year after 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protests gained attention.

For those who wonder if Kaepernick's controversial "pig cop" socks ran afoul of the NFL rule outlined above, they didn't -- he wore those during practices, not on game days.


There was money behind some of the NFL's past patriotism

In 2015, a Senate report released by Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake poured cold water on some of the more heartwarming moments of patriotism seen in professional sports.

The report found the Department of Defense had spent $6.8 million on what they called "paid patriotism" between 2012 and 2015. This money was spread out among 50 pro teams from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, MLS and others.

In exchange for the money, teams organized displays of national pride including flag presentations, the honoring of military members, reenlistment ceremonies, and even the most unassailable and uplifting of patriotic moments: surprise military homecomings. To be clear, plenty of teams also do, and have done, such things with no compensation.

But the connection between "paid patriotism" and players being mandated to be present for the anthem is tenuous. The report does mention several instances where teams were paid for anthem performances, but that was about the specific artist or presentation. There is nothing in the report to suggest teams were paid or coerced into pulling players on to the field as part of "paid patriotism" initiatives.

In fact, Pentagon spokesman Army Major Dave Eastburn recently clarified the Defense Department's current relationship with professional sports.

"DoD does not require or request that athletes be on the field during the playing of the national anthem when military members are part of the patriotic opener," he said in a statement to CNN.

"Community relations participation, such as flyovers, color guards, and military band support, are unpaid activities. DoD does not pay outside parties to host such community outreach activities."

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This country is neck-deep in absurd military worship

Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous. I respect the tough mofo's who are walking around in Afghanistan, but that's a pretty small percent of veterans. I'm not sure that a guy who ran the laundry at Fort Drum should be boarding the plane ahead of everybody else and getting free meals at Applebee's.

[ForeverChiefs58]

Both directly and indirectly, we the taxpayers are paying both these billionaire owners and the rest of this disrespectful, unpatriotic organization, including Roger Goodell.

The funds flow primarily via mammoth subsidies for NFL stadiums. The Super Bowl will be played this year in the Minnesota Viking's US Bank Stadium, which cost taxpayers there over $500 million despite the reported $5.3 billion wealth of team owner Zygi Wilf.

Adding to that insult, Minnesota government officials who approved that deal received free tickets and food to all future games there.

Minnesota's massive misuse of hard-earned taxpayer capital is hardly unique. Las Vegas just promised its $500 million subsidy to lure the Oakland Raiders to move.

The San Francisco 49ers' new stadium in Santa Clara fleeced taxpayers there for $621 million. All told, according to Watchdog.org, the billionaire club of NFL owners and, by extension, Roger Goodell has expropriated $7 billion since 2000 on taxpayers subsidies for stadiums.

In addition, because funding bonds are typically issued as municipal projects, they evade federal taxation, costing the federal Treasury $3.2 billion during the same period.

https://apple.news/AyVYM9FepRCCjmFwEyoG29A

[scho63]

Originally Posted by Molitoth

How exactly is the NFL supposed to deal with it? lol

Don't tell me they could force players to stand.

Yeah, they should should make it clear. If you don't stand for the National Anthem in 2018 you are suspended a game. Second time 3 games, 3rd time 5 games, 4th game a season.

Let's see what happens then.

You can go protest before a game, after the game, in the stands, whatever but let's not turn a moment of unity for all Americans into a divisive racial issue.

Problem solved.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This country is neck-deep in absurd military worship