Poll: Like or Dislike Players Protesting During the National Anthem?

Do you like it or dislike it?

I voted for I don't care as long as a game is about to be played

Okay I'll be political on this board for about ten seconds:

I personally won't ever kneel during the National Anthem, but as long as they're not hurting/forcing anybody than I don't really care. They can do their thing.

dislike...i get what they're doing and support the players.
I just don't like it in sports. i just wanna watch some ball.

IDGAF. f**k this country BTW.

Tired of hearing about it.. tired of seeing it everywhere. I just wanna watch my football. I personally would never kneel during the anthem, being a veteran I still stands at attention while it's getting played. I fought for the right for people to peacefully protest..

I like it because it's statistically impossible to legitimately argue that it's not a valid cause, because I think that peaceful and non-violent and non-threatening protest is never a bad thing, and because I respect anyone who is willing to risk things for what they believe in.

Even more than I like it though, I am vehemently opposed to the rationales of people who don't like it.

You don't want politics invading your sports? Fine. They're not. It's all happening before the game even starts, and during a "tradition" that isn't even a tradition in the NFL. Players weren't even out on the field for the anthem until 2009. If you don't like it do what everyone else does and just tune in for kickoff time. Heck, I just tune in for kickoff time like I always have.

You think it's unAmerican? Protest and the public political redress of government is LITERALLY what this country was founded on. The "what and who are real Americans" wars could not be more shallow and boring, but if you think the peaceful and public protest of the state is unAmerican I'm sorry, but you're simply an idiot. Historically you'd be hard pressed to come up with a single thing that is more American. /en

You think it disrespects "the troops"? That's a deliberate misunderstanding of what is being protested, and those protesting have wasted the time to make that clear to you hundreds of times over. Quite frankly, even if it WAS a protest of the military (which it decidedly isn't -- players kneel on the advice of a military man) I'd be perfectly fine with that also. That the U.S. military is a sacred cow is one of the greatest boondoggles of our time. The U.S. military has become the most destructive, least efficient, least productive, and most expensive public low-skill jobs program in recorded human history. My father died in war for this country, and unless you have an immediate family member who has done the same, you can seriously F off with your moral high ground or high falutin talk about the sacredness of the military.

You think players shouldn't protest because they should be grateful that they make a lot of money? What? This is a ridiculous claim. I'm happy to go into the details about how intellectually mealy mouthed this claim is if anyone actually wants to take it seriously, but it's a logical mess and doesn't hold up to an ounce of scrutiny.

/end rant

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:

I like it because it's statistically impossible to legitimately argue that it's not a valid cause, because I think that peaceful and non-violent and non-threatening protest is never a bad thing, and because I respect anyone who is willing to risk things for what they believe in.

Even more than I like it though, I am vehemently opposed to the rationales of people who don't like it.

You don't want politics invading your sports? Fine. They're not. It's all happening before the game even starts, and during a "tradition" that isn't even a tradition in the NFL. Players weren't even out on the field for the anthem until 2009. If you don't like it do what everyone else does and just tune in for kickoff time. Heck, I just tune in for kickoff time like I always have.

You think it's unAmerican? Protest and the public political redress of government is LITERALLY what this country was founded on. The "what and who are real Americans" wars could not be more shallow and boring, but if you think the peaceful and public protest of the state is unAmerican I'm sorry, but you're simply an idiot. Historically you'd be hard pressed to come up with a single thing that is more American. /en

You think it disrespects "the troops"? That's a deliberate misunderstanding of what is being protested, and those protesting have wasted the time to make that clear to you hundreds of times over. Quite frankly, even if it WAS a protest of the military (which it decidedly isn't -- players kneel on the advice of a military man) I'd be perfectly fine with that also. That the U.S. military is a sacred cow is one of the greatest boondoggles of our time. The U.S. military has become the most destructive, least efficient, least productive, and most expensive public low-skill jobs program in recorded human history. My father died in war for this country, and unless you have an immediate family member who has done the same, you can seriously F off with your moral high ground or high falutin talk about the sacredness of the military.

You think players shouldn't protest because they should be grateful that they make a lot of money? What? This is a ridiculous claim. I'm happy to go into the details about how intellectually mealy mouthed this claim is if anyone actually wants to take it seriously, but it's a logical mess and doesn't hold up to an ounce of scrutiny.

/end rant

Since 2009 huh

I don't want to see or think about anyone's political or ideological issues before, during, or even after a football game.

So I blame the media for all of this BS. If they never focus on this crap, and never sensationalize it more later? no one will give a damn.

As it stands now, just keep the players and full teams in the locker-room until after the NA is over. Put a cork in this annoying issue, and play ball.

(personally, I don't like folks not standing, but I also recognize their right to not.. don't really gaf about their quiet protests.. just shut up about it)

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
Since 2009 huh

Some teams did it some of the time before that. Other teams didn't.

It wasn't official NFL policy to have players on the field for the anthem until 2009.

It is incredibly likely (although not officially confirmed) that this policy change was made to better service the U.S. Armed Forces and the NFL in their secret deals for paid military advertising that they had lied about for years, which was part of the 50+ million dollars in taxpayer money that was paid to professional sports franchises to engage in unlabeled advertising for the military.

This was all detailed in the report written by Senators McCain (R) and Flake (R) this year: https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/12de6dcb-d8d8-4a58-8795-562297f948c1/tackling-paid-patriotism-oversight-report.pdf

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

Originally posted by PopeyeJonesing:
I like it because it's statistically impossible to legitimately argue that it's not a valid cause, because I think that peaceful and non-violent and non-threatening protest is never a bad thing, and because I respect anyone who is willing to risk things for what they believe in.

Even more than I like it though, I am vehemently opposed to the rationales of people who don't like it.

You don't want politics invading your sports? Fine. They're not. It's all happening before the game even starts, and during a "tradition" that isn't even a tradition in the NFL. Players weren't even out on the field for the anthem until 2009. If you don't like it do what everyone else does and just tune in for kickoff time. Heck, I just tune in for kickoff time like I always have.

You think it's unAmerican? Protest and the public political redress of government is LITERALLY what this country was founded on. The "what and who are real Americans" wars could not be more shallow and boring, but if you think the peaceful and public protest of the state is unAmerican I'm sorry, but you're simply an idiot. Historically you'd be hard pressed to come up with a single thing that is more American. /en

You think it disrespects "the troops"? That's a deliberate misunderstanding of what is being protested, and those protesting have wasted the time to make that clear to you hundreds of times over. Quite frankly, even if it WAS a protest of the military (which it decidedly isn't -- players kneel on the advice of a military man) I'd be perfectly fine with that also. That the U.S. military is a sacred cow is one of the greatest boondoggles of our time. The U.S. military has become the most destructive, least efficient, least productive, and most expensive public low-skill jobs program in recorded human history. My father died in war for this country, and unless you have an immediate family member who has done the same, you can seriously F off with your moral high ground or high falutin talk about the sacredness of the military.

You think players shouldn't protest because they should be grateful that they make a lot of money? What? This is a ridiculous claim. I'm happy to go into the details about how intellectually mealy mouthed this claim is if anyone actually wants to take it seriously, but it's a logical mess and doesn't hold up to an ounce of scrutiny.

/end rant

Since 2009 huh

I'll admit that I accepted the assertions of people like Stephen Smith that prior to 2009 NFL players did not come out to the field before the playing of the national anthem. But that isn't correct. Here's the scoop on that:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/sep/25/short-history-national-anthem-and-sports/

One aspect of this history that has spawned some confusion in recent days concerns a change made in 2009.
Until that year, players in primetime games would remain inside their locker rooms while the anthem was sung, due to timing concerns for the television networks. After 2009, the players in primetime games have been on the field during the anthem, McCarthy said.
But this change only affected primetime games. For all other games -- typically held at 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. Eastern -- players had already been stationed on the field for the national anthem. So the 2009 change simply applied to primetime games the rules that had already been in place for daytime games.

So it didn't bother the NFL to mess with this "hallowed tradition" of the players being on the field for the anthem when it conflicted with considerations of TV coverage. It may be a tradition but people's perception of the hallowness of it has seemed to have increased since Kap's kneeling began.

don't care, it's annoying all the coverage it gets. I like Tomlin's response.

i dont give a f**k

Absolutely LOVE it.

Originally posted by 9ersLiferInChicago:
Absolutely LOVE it.

It's not even a protest anymore, but an individual spotlight