Pre-match: Protests, the Anthem, and the Flag discussion

I guess the pearl-clutching concerns about the US team not "respecting the flag" means that US Soccer has made it mainstream. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

 

Hockey is just happy you paid attention to it, even in passing.

 

Not asking, expecting. If any of them care enough to try to enact real change that is. Or they can keep kneeling and nothing will be done.

 

Actually, he said that not everyone who was protesting the removal of the Robert E Lee statue was a White Nationalist/Supremacist. But go ahead in your echo chamber and keep repeating your lie if it makes you feel better.

 

"wanting Blacks to be eliminated from the US in any way". WHAT. ARE. YOU. TALKING. ABOUT.

 

Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. Should they also not vote or give money to charity?

 

I would hope that our players take pride in the fact that they're representing the US on the international stage. I would hope it gets them fired up to know that they're playing for their country. If that's the case, it's hard to imagine them wanting to kneel for the national anthem.

 

Tell that to ESPN .

 

You can hold both thoughts. Black men are often patriots but rarely blindly so. Jim Crow was legal when 65 year olds were teens.

 

That's why presidents invite champions to the White House and throws out first pitches, to keep out the political stuff.

 

Isn’t one of the fundamental purposes of a protest to get attention? Should they kneel in their basements?

Dude, don’t get high on your supply.

 

Good point about Jim Crow. I don't expect anyone to be blindly patriotic. If players in interviews or on social media publicly voice their resistance to Trump and what he's doing to our country, that would bring me great joy. I would applaud them for doing so. To me, that would be patriotic. I believe if a person really loves their country, they feel compelled to speak up when their country falls short of the ideals that it aspires to.

My concern is purely a pragmatic one. As a fan, I just want to see our team be as successful as possible. Consider two hypothetical teams composed of the exact same players. The only difference is that players on the one team are fired up to be representing their country on the world stage, and players on the other team are indifferent. Which team wins? Is there really any doubt that the team whose players are fired up beats the team whose players are indifferent? That's why I want our players to be fired up.

Of course, this begs the question whether a team of players who kneel for the national anthem will necessarily be less fired up to be playing for their country than a team of players who stand. If they're just as fired up once the game starts, then I have no problem with them kneeling. But it seems like a stretch to me to say that the team of players who take a leg could be just as fired up.

 

I think I might have watched one 49ers game that season so I'll take your word for it. However, he did have one outstanding season and then was bad to mediocre after that. He's also a much better fit for certain offensive systems than for others (Chip Kelly's being one he's a good fit for) and he's injury prone.

Because clearly that's his market value. The NFL isn't a charity. Why would a team offer him more than that when they could use that cap space to make the team better at other positions?

The NFL and its teams are businesses. If owners don't feel that signing Kaepernick is worth the backlash from their fans, that's their right.

Plus, let's say some team signs him. He'd be a backup, so let's say the starting QB on that team is white and has a couple of bad games.

Now, the same coach/owner/GM who signed Kaepernick in the first place are going to have the usual suspects in the media screaming at them to start him, and if they don't they're racists. And you're incredibly naive if you don't think that's exactly how it would play out. Why would any owner, coach, or GM subject themselves and their team to that?

Look, actions have consequences. When you're an NFL QB and you talk shxt about the national anthem and call cops pigs you're likely ruling yourself out from ever being signed by a team in a conservative part of the country (like, for example, the team that signed Weeden). When you show up to a press conference wearing a shirt glorifying Fidel Castro, you're probably never going to get a contract from the Dolphins for obvious reasons. Really, Seattle was a perfect fit for him both on and off the field for reasons ranging from the city's political bent to his familiarity with the division, but he turned down the offer there.

 

I think the problem is that Germany will push the problem underground where it can fester under the auspices of criminals and lunatics.

 

You would have to repeal the first amendment right to peaceably assemble, i.e., associate freely.

One hand washes the other.

 

I do. I'm a native speaker of English, as are many of my fellow Penn Staters.

 

Good post

 

I don’t know if it says more about NFL owners or NFL fans, but Greg Hardy wasn’t a distraction till he had a terrible season with the Cowboys. Ray Lewis was a team leader after aiding and abetting a murderer after the fact. But Brandon Weeden got signed while Kaepernick didn’t.

I think the owners have a predisposition to only hear certain fans’ voices because NFL owners have a plantation mentality.

 

I didn't make the initial comment. Which was that sports was better without all the "political crap". You created the narrative of sports and politics strictly being separate with your snarky comment.

My point was merely that if I want politics, world events, etc. I will turn on the news. If I want sports I will turn on ESPN. It's ok for them to be different channels and not have an obvious crossover. In fact, I prefer it that way.

 

Someone asked what would the players do besides kneel?

How about articulating a value proposition in the Wall Street Journal? San Francisco Examiner. Washington Post. Dallas Morning News. Any reputable paper.

Or how about appear on some news shows and articulate your value proposition verbally and persuade folks that way.

After all the majority of them went to college.

Jim Brown (Hall of Famer Cleveland Browns) said Kaepernick needed to decide whether he was a football player or an activist. He stated when he was a football player he was not an activist. Now that he doesn't play football anymore he can be a activist.

Excellent advice I think.

 

@Mantis Toboggan M.D.

He had more than one good season. He ran roughshod over Green Bay in the playoffs his second year starting and came within a last second interception of beating(in the NFCCG) the Seahawks team that embarrassed Peyton Manning in the Superbowl.



The owners have every right to not employ him based on his views and actions.I just want people to acknowledge that his play is good enough to be on a team .

It's like the people who swore that Landon was fat or arguing with teammates to justify Klinsmann.

 

And if the Ray Rice video had not come out, I'm sure he'd still be in the league.