I never thought I would say this but.......

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, way to go Jets!!!!!!!!

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/05/23/christopher-johnson-pledges-not-to-force-players-to-stand-for-anthem/

In all seriousness, if Johnson sticks with this and Kraft punishes a single player, I will switch.  Peacefully protesting police brutality is more important than football.

[BuccaneerBrad]

J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, way to go Jets!!!!!!!!

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/05/23/christopher-johnson-pledges-not-to-force-players-to-stand-for-anthem/

In all seriousness, if Johnson sticks with this and Kraft punishes a single player, I will switch.  Peacefully protesting police brutality is more important than football.

These guys are paid to play football, not to spout their own political agendas on national TV by disrespecting our flag.  This is a job, and jobs have policies.  Don't like the policies of this job?  Look for another job.  There are plenty of guys who are capable of taking your position.

[Phishfan]

Take the anthem out of the game. Problem solved all the way around.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

These guys are paid to play football, not to spout their own political agendas on national TV by disrespecting our flag.  This is a job, and jobs have policies.  Don't like the policies of this job?  Look for another job.  There are plenty of guys who are capable of taking your position.

Police are paid to protect and serve, not shoot unarmed citizens with immunity.  Solve that problem and flag issue becomes moot.

[CF DolFan]

Police are paid to protect and serve, not shoot unarmed citizens with immunity.  Solve that problem and flag issue becomes moot.

This country has tons of problems. Disrespecting the people who gave you the freedom to protest doesn't help any one of those problems. No one cares why they are doing it and in fact ... the message was lost a long time ago. The fact police brutality is a rare occurrence has no bearing. 

Armando Salguero has a great view IMHO. He came from communist Cuba so he understands the freedoms we have and he says everyone should respect the flag ... if for nothing else but the fact you are free to choose because of those who died under it. I think that is all most people are asking.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Best line I have seen is "Patriotism isn't forcing everyone to salute the flag like the do in North Korea it is about striving to make the country a better place."

[Sunstroke]

This country has tons of problems. Disrespecting the people who gave you the freedom to protest doesn't help any one of those problems. No one cares why they are doing it and in fact ... the message was lost a long time ago.

1) They aren't disrespecting the military by kneeling. In fact, the original kneeler (that damned communist, Kaepernick) actually went to several military members "before" they ever kneeled.
2) I'm sorry that YOU don't care why they're doing it...but a pretty big chunk of the population of this country DOES care.
3) I'm sorry that YOU lost the message a long time ago (though I think you're confusing "lost the message" with "forcing yourself to suppress the message"), but a big chunk of the population hasn't lost shit.

[BeanCounter]

Sorry, but I don't understand all this outrage.  The NFL adopted a policy that is a lot less strict than the NBA.

The NBA for over two decades has a rule that states, "Players, coaches, and trainers are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem."  The NBA went so far as to remind teams before this season of this rule.  However, I see no outrage directed towards the NBA.

Nor was there any outrage when David Stern actually suspended a player for one game during the 1996-1997 season (even though no-one in the NBA noticed that Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf choose not to stand for the National Anthem until a local reporter pointed it out).
 

[masterfins]

1) Stupid for NFL to come up with a rule when this whole matter had pretty much died out.

2) Players kneeling now is only going to bring attention to the debate over whether they should stand during the National Anthem, NOT about police brutality or profiling.  No one is talking about WHY they are kneeling, we/they are only discussing whether they are disrespecting the flag/military.  It's time to move the ball forward and work on solutions to the actual probable.

3) I'm with Phish, just take the anthem off the broadcast; the only reason teams starting doing it was to get sponsorship dollars from the military, which is the real disgrace.

P.S. I made my annual pilgrimage to Baltimore last weekend for the Preakness and I can report that none of the jockeys or horses knelt during the playing of the National Anthem.  Although at the time it was played they were still in the paddock ("locker room").

[CF DolFan]

2) Players kneeling now is only going to bring attention to the debate over whether they should stand during the National Anthem, NOT about police brutality or profiling.  No one is talking about WHY they are kneeling, we/they are only discussing whether they are disrespecting the flag/military.  It's time to move the ball forward and work on solutions to the actual probable.

I completely agree with this point. Last year the narrative quickly turned into a players vs Trump story and then most of America debated, as they are right now, if it's bad or Ok to kneel during the anthem.  Like most people
 ... I can't protest at work and wouldn't expect I would be allowed. As an owner .. if it was something that upset my customer base I'd be pretty upset about it.

[Dave Gray]

Take the anthem out of the game. Problem solved all the way around.

Yeah, they should.

It's an entertainment event, not a display of nationalism.  You don't have the anthem before a play or movie. 

The reality is money.  The US Govt depends on sports to recruit for the army, which is why we have flyovers and flag displays and videos about the troops coming home to families and all that.  It's important to their brand.

[Tenshot13]

Someone explain to me how Kap wearing a fascist dictator on his shirt the week his team plays a city known to be the largest Cuban refugee city in America is any different than some white guy wearing a Hitler shirt at a bar mitzvah.  That is a huge slap in the face to the Cuban American population, and blatant racism, but it was swept under the rug.  He lost any credibility after that, he's a racist scum bag. Or are you going to tell me the Cuban population doesn't matter...

Inb4 he liked their stance on education.  That's like saying Hitler had some good ideas between all that genocide.

[Sunstroke]

Someone explain to me how Kap wearing a fascist dictator on his shirt the week his team plays a city known to be the largest Cuban refugee city in America is any different than some white guy wearing a Hitler shirt at a bar mitzvah.  That is a huge slap in the face to the Cuban American population, and blatant racism, but it was swept under the rug.  He lost any credibility after that, he's a racist scum bag. Or are you going to tell me the Cuban population doesn't matter...

I didn't even catch that one at the time... The two things that made me back off my defense of Kaep were:

1) Wearing the socks at practice that had little cartoon pigs in police uniforms.
2) When asked after the election who he voted for, he said he didn't vote.

[pondwater]

Want to be a social justice warrior? That's cool. Want to protest the problems of the world? That's fine. Do it on your own time and your own dime. Your perceived problems with the world and the NFL have nothing to do with each other. A good portion of the NFL fans who partially support the NFL by buying tickets and other shit don't want to see that non sense that has nothing to do with the product they paid for. We already get enough of that in the form of commercials. You want to advertise your social justice warrior agenda? Then pay the same going rate that all the other advertisers do. If you're serious about fixing shit, put your money where your mouth is? Otherwise you're just a chump looking for attention and free advertising for your opinions?