Stand or not to stand for the National Anthem.

[doniceage]

Here a card shop doing something unique for the protest:

Local business owner reacts to NFL controversy



http://www.koaa.com/story/36441114/l...fl-controversy

Don

[blackhorseson]

Both of my grandfathers were WWll vers and my dad was a Vietnam Vet, so for me there is no question. I stand. In honor of my grandfathers and dad, as well as the rest of the veterans, living or passed on.

[Jameis1of1]

I believe in free speech and freedom of expression therefore it makes no difference to me whether a player kneels, stands, sits, etc ... HOWEVER that also means I think Trump is entitled to his opinion and that patriotic Americans are entitled to boycott the NFL, demand refunds on their tickets and tv packages and the like.

I do find the NFL's position on this to be hypocritical and little more than ridiculous "virtue signaling" however as they punish players for disrespecting mere referees or for wearing the wrong type of shoes but now the NFL claims it can't punish players for disrespecting the national anthem of the country? That's just dumb and absolutely hypocritical.

I also agree with Pwaldo ... Trump knows what he's doing. He's not a politician and doesn't play the politically-correct game, he purposely frames issues in such a way as to make people chose a side rather than waffle on both sides ... and his base loves him for it whole his detractors hate him for it ... either way, he seems to enjoy it and I doubt he will change.

ALSO ... I think Richard Sherman and people like him are nuts if they think they are being "courageous" or acting like Muhammad Ali by simply taking a knee ... most of the players are taking a knee so no "courage" is need, just a follower's mentality.

My main man JAMEIS WINSTON showed courage in refusing to take a knee. He's a black QB that people "expected" to take a knee and his top two superstar receivers were both taking a knee and yet Jameis stood tall with his helmet on his heart as he always does and THAT took real "courage", which a cursory look at Twitter will show as a ton of black folks are killing him for not "supporting the cause", but Jameis is a true alpha and leader and does what he feels is right no matter what anyone thinks and I love and respect him for that!

However, it didn't surprise me as I already knew how patriotic he was, seeing as he personally signed and inscribed this card for me about a year ago:

Flag Patch_front_EDITED.jpg

[pwaldo]

I do find the NFL's position on this to be hypocritical and little more than ridiculous "virtue signaling" however as they punish players for disrespecting mere referees or for wearing the wrong type of shoes but now the NFL claims it can't punish players for disrespecting the national anthem of the country? That's just dumb and absolutely hypocritical.

Yup this is what really gets me with the NFL. They have been a huge pain the butt with these "rules" that prevent players from having fun, honoring people, or expressing their rights. Now the NFL acts like you can do anything you want and they can't do anything about it. Where was this when player's wanted to honor 9/11 or a deceased friend or family member? Your telling me that they didn't have the right to do that?

[Jameis1of1]

Yup this is what really gets me with the NFL. They have been a huge pain the butt with these "rules" that prevent players from having fun, honoring people, or expressing their rights. Now the NFL acts like you can do anything you want and they can't do anything about it. Where was this when player's wanted to honor 9/11 or a deceased friend or family member? Your telling me that they didn't have the right to do that?

The 9/11 thing is huge and I wouldn't be surprised if Trump raises that point in the near future. The NFL refused to allow players to do anything outside the norm on the 9/11 anniversary but now that some players want to protest Trump or inequality or whatever it is they are protesting the NFL pretends that free speech and freedom of expression prevents them from forbidding the protesters from protesting even though they forbid patriotic players from memorializing 9/11 ... that is extremely hypocritical and that is why a lot of people are now protesting the NFL, demanding refunds of Sunday Ticket, etc.

Again, I don't personally care what a player wants to do, but the NFL's hypocrisy is extremely transparent and it irks me that ESPN and other left-leaning networks are covering for them and spinning their own false narrative ... just very disingenuous.

[LancerArmstrong]

I'm for standing.

[Devlin]

I for myself would stand. i think kneeling with hand on heart, A's catcher is good. sitting,
not so much. whatever the player or team does is really ok with me. it takes some guts sometimes to
stand for what you believe in.

[*censored*]

I don't care either way. I completely support the right to protest in whatever form it may take. Sure rioting is a little over the top, but as MLK once said in a rare statement that went against his basically non-violent doctrine "A riot is the language of the unheard." Taking a knee is a good non-violent protest.

That said, as I stated in another thread on this site, if you want players to stay out of politics, then maybe government and politics shouldn't have injected itself into sports to begin with with payments to teams to use players as unwitting promoters of the Department of Defense.

[pwaldo]

That said, as I stated in another thread on this site, if you want players to stay out of politics, then maybe government and politics shouldn't have injected itself into sports to begin with with payments to teams to use players as unwitting promoters of the Department of Defense.

I would suspect some people want the players to get even more involved.....

btw the NFL being tax exempt for all these years until it stopped or how they use tax payer money to fund stadiums, hold them hostage, and then bolt to another new area without having to pay for the costs while the taxpayers of the city still have to foot the bill happened long before the NFL needed some good PR to distract from their off the field antics. And hell I'm pretty sure the jets flying over the Super Bowl has been going on for a long time too. Who pays for that one?

[texansrangerfan73]

Both of my grandfathers were WWll vers and my dad was a Vietnam Vet, so for me there is no question. I stand. In honor of my grandfathers and dad, as well as the rest of the veterans, living or passed on.

The smartest comment I've seen towards this BS that's going on. Thank you