AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris
![NFL](https://static-asset.amac.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/28061848/NFL.jpg)
Thursday night’s football faceoff between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marks the first game of the regular NFL season, and while fans already know who the top returning players and purported new stars are, one question has yet to be answered: will the NFL, three days before the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and only a few days after the deaths of 13 American service members in Afghanistan, honor America and its fallen heroes? The issue of whether the league will pay some tribute to the 13 warriors is also part of a larger question: will the NFL require players to stand for the national anthem this season, or will the league instead spark even more outrage among football fans by continuing to allow players to disrespect our flag?
AMAC Newsline reached out to the NFL for comment multiple times on that very question over the past two days but has not receive a response as of the publication of this piece.
It’s no secret that sports are becoming infected with the same woke ideologies that increasingly pervade every other aspect of American culture. While the NBA has been the main culprit of the politicization of sports, the NFL now seems to be vying for that title as more and more players kneel for the national anthem in an alleged protest against “systemic racism” that supposedly plagues every part of American society. Critics have contended that the protests are disrespectful to U.S. service members and first responders, a charge players and their representatives have denied.
From a financial standpoint, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and team owners – or, more specifically, their pocketbooks – can hardly afford to further exacerbate the kneeling controversy. The league saw sharp declines in viewership throughout the 2016 and 2017 seasons that were linked to kneeling protests. While ratings recovered slightly in 2018 and 2019, a fresh wave of Black Lives Matter protests prior to games throughout the league last year sent ratings tumbling once again. Clearly, fans prefer their football politics-free.
Goodell was already unpopular among players and fans thanks to his botched handling of the so-called “deflategate” controversy involving then-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in 2015. The commissioner routinely draws boos from fans every time he makes an appearance, even during 2020’s virtual NFL Draft.
As the kneeling controversy swept the league, Goodell further sullied his own reputation by effectively allowing political activists and radical groups to hijack the league to serve their political ends. Indeed, when the flag controversy began, he seemed to implicitly approve of coverage by the left-leaning ESPN and NBC that seemed to favor the protests. He then turned a blind eye to backlash against players like New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees who dared to say that not standing for the anthem was “disrespectful.” In doing so, the commissioner became for many just another rich, entitled businessman more concerned with cultivating favor among woke ideologues than caring for the best interests of the players – both on and off the field.
Needless to say, Goodell’s capitulation to leftist activists has not helped resurrect his image, particularly among working class fans who make up the base of the NFL’s viewership. There is no denying that football is, after all, a business, and like many other businesses in recent years, its CEO—with the backing of several powerful owners like John Mara of the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Rooney family – has gone woke.
But in light of the recent deaths of 11 Marines, one Army soldier, and one member of the Navy in a suicide attack during Biden’s disastrous surrender in Afghanistan, many are now renewing calls for the NFL to do more to encourage players to honor their sacrifice as well as honor the country they laid down their lives to protect. Many high school teams as well as other professional sports organizations like the Los Angeles Dodgers have paid tribute to those killed in action.
The NFL’s kneeling controversy began in 2016 when San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem of the team’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. Although Kaepernick had knelt before the prior two preseason games as well, this was the first time it garnered any media attention. When asked about it, Kaepernick said that he was “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Over the ensuing weeks and months, Kaepernick’s “protests” became even more pronounced and were not limited to specific instances of supposed police injustice. During several practices, he was spotted wearing socks showing police officers dressed as pigs. Kaepernick also praised former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, despite Castro’s clear brutal treatment of his own people in the very way that Kaepernick claims African Americans are treated by police in the United States.
To many sports fans, Kaepernick’s actions seemed little more than a vain quest for relevancy after his fall from the heights of professional stardom, in addition to being disrespectful to the country, service members, and first responders. After taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013, the second-round pick out of Nevada saw a marked decline in production, leading to his eventual replacement with Blaine Gabbert prior to the 2016 season.
More players joined Kaepernick and took a knee, leading to mounting outrage from fans and police officers and military personnel. Prior to the 2018 season, NFL owners ruled that players could remain in the locker room for the anthem but could not kneel on the field, a compromise that seemed to help appease both sides of the disagreement.
However, it wasn’t long before the NFL changed course and shamelessly kowtowed to Kaepernick and his imitators. In June of last year, Goodell issued a statement that read in part “we, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.” The league also cut a $250 million check to organizations like Black Lives Matter to combat “systemic racism,” even as some of those groups were organizing riots that destroyed millions of dollars in private property, burned cities to the ground, and left dozens of people dead.
After all that controversy, and with the nation still reeling from its defeat in Afghanistan, Americans are likely finding themselves yearning for the time in decades past when sports were a place for people of all backgrounds to come together in good times and bad, and enjoy cheering on their favorite players and teams. The country is only twenty years removed from the iconic moment when Sammy Sosa circled Wrigley Field carrying the American flag before the Cubs’ first home game following 9/11. There is little doubt that moments like that, rallying around the flag rather than disrespecting it, have done far more to promote true unity in the United States than any self-serving “protest” of the flag.
In this moment, when the country desperately needs it, Americans can only hope that the NFL will once again take pride in the country and its heroes, ignore the small but loud minority demanding adherence to a radical agenda, and ask players to stand and honor the patriots of all races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds who fought and died to give them the freedom to play this great American game.
I don’t watch professional sports!!!!!
Protest Joe at all NFL NHL NBA MLB Games OK nationwide
I honestly don’t know how any patriot in this country watches any of these sports that disrespect our military, our flag and law enforcement. I quit watching these overpaid leftists back in 2016. Never looked back. During that time between then and now I slowly eliminated each sport that thought it was cool to disrespect our flag and be woke. I now watch NO sports of any kind. And you now what, life is good. My wife loves it. I don’t miss any of it.
Nancy
So sad that the sports we enjoyed watching our kids play and as an activity has been lost to a group of selfish and UNAMERICAN celebrities. We do not watch professional sports now….just watch our grandsons play hockey.
NFL is dead to me, have been for 4 years. I don’t care what they do, I will never watch another game.
I gave up on the NFL when they allowed their players to take the knee with no repercussions. Same for the NBA. Honestly, I don’t care what most professional sports does anymore. They have all chosen where they stand. I could care less what any of them do at this point.
We’ll see what happens but if they start playing what some call the “Black National Anthem” before the games, they’ve lost me for good! This is one country under God and we only have one national anthem!!
Haven’t watched a pro game of anything in several years and don’t intend to ever again. College is probably next. Can’t stand woke announcers (and players) much longer. With the sound off it’s not much better watching spoiled, entitled supposed students griping about getting paid, all the while getting a free college education. Of course, that’s not worth much more than the paper it’s printed on these days!
Why would I watch a bunch of ungrateful crack heads play a game while making millions? Their unh, you know, duh, uh, interviews where you clearly let you know that they have no clue. Duh, I think not! I don’t buy their advertisers products either.
It is bogus if they don’t. and very unamerican. will not watch the nfl til they quit kneeling. ungrateful lot
I still watch my team, but don’t have the same loyalty I did. I have several friends who haven’t watched a game since the kneeling took off with the players. Goodell is an idiot and why these billionaires feel they need to capitulate to these woke fools is just a mystery to me. What are they afraid of?
Long Long ago, football players were deemed “heros.” Perhaps it’s just taken this long for the truth to come out. They are not.
I no longer watch football or NBA basketball. Adults who get payed millions to play a game and then have the audacity to cry about how disadvantaged and discriminated against they are. I’m through with it.
I guess the players are the bosses. Goodell can’t stand on his own 2 feet, he just accepts what players do. Is Goodell himself unpatriotic? I think so! I feel that people just should quit the high cost of going to games and protest them. When and If they don’t make the millions they are used to perhaps they could come to their senses and respect the United States of America again; especially in light of the Biden administration’s handling of Afghanistan and the 9/11 observance of 20 years since we lost many heroes to say nothing of the families who have had to endure the losses of the people on the planes as well as those who rushed to help in that horrible disaster.
Just one more reason not to watch the NFL
They should stop using “woke” and call it what it is, communist.
Since our president (?) has not even called for the lowering of the Flag and only concerned with his watch, why would we think the NFL would honor anyone but BLM?
Lost respect for the NFL and stopped watching games back in mid 1990’s. Things have just continued to get worse.
Woke NFL and other professional sports are in the dumpster because of their weak leadership and socialist agenda. To give money to the BLM is beyond the pale. People remember….and the loss of revenue at all professional sports will finally get management’s attention. Boycotting of advertisers is key to the protests by the adverage fan. This will get a lot worse before it gets better (if ever). The owners put themselves in this position, and up to now, it looks like common sense has not set in. Those franchises who support America should stand up quickly for what the traditions have been or they will forever be lost in the dust of the people and organizations who truly support our country.
Professional sports should remain neutral from politics but, No more in America. It is shocking to witness the destruction of our great Republic by so many traitors. May they burn in Hell.
As a combat veteran my heart breaks for the treatment our troops are given by military elites like Gen’l Milley Woke. We who have laid our life on the line for Democracy have been betrayed.
We need leadership to stage mass protests NOW or America is forever lost.
We’ve not watched since 2019. This just confirms our decision. (Might I add that back in the day not a game was missed. Thanksgiving dinner had to be timed to not miss a play.) Very sad state of affairs.
I quit watching all sports the day they allowed players to start kneeling. What a bunch of whiney hypocrites. They are the highest paid in the nation and if they really think there is so much discrimination in this country, they can put their money where their mouth is and start doing something in the low poverty neighborhoods to improve them – oh but you won’t see them do that because their rhetoric is meant for the rest of us and not them.
those overpaid assholes better honor them and if not, i will continue to boycott nfl football
I will NOT watch or attend a football (or any other major league sports game as long as the players are allowed to disrespect the flag. These same players don’t seem to have any problem taking millions of dollars in salary from the country they so despise. If they think it’s so bad here, they are free to move somewhere else.
who still watches these over paid boys who has never grow up and the organization of clowns that hates this country and the people
gET RID OF gOODALL.
For a few months the nfl was not watched but they are back – Americans have short memories – and bit them selves first – wonder if the communist government will allow sports teams?
I’m over the NFL, NBA and any other organization that allows players/members to disrespect our military, law enforcement or our flag. If you want to watch a sport that still respects this country try rodeo…..
No more college or pro sports for me. Drinking is my game,Finlandia is the name.
To hell with the NFL ! Over paid unpatriotic jerks ! It one of the unnecessary things in life !
tHERE IS ONE THING TO THINK ABOUT, IF ACTION IS TAKEN AGAINST THE PLAYERS, WOULD this be a case of stepping on their first amendents rights, ??? May eventualy wind up in the Supream Court. What do some of you think??? Any lawyers in the house ??? kYLE l. p.s. it’S GOT TO WHERE A FAMILY NO LONGER CAN AFFORD TO GO.
Sports in the past have honored our fallen heroes. The Right thing to do is to honor those who die defending our right to freedom. Any deviation from that truth is wrong!!! Stand for our National Anthem and fallen heroes.
Just another stake to the heart for the NFL. No way I am coming back to watch them. Saddens me to think that these strong men are so weak. The NFL was once so patriotic and now they are more godless then ever. They have sold their souls for money. I Timothy 6:10! God’s Word is alive and these guys have proven it to be true.
Why do we continue to allow hateful Progressives to ruin every aspect of our lives? It is understandable that most of these professional sports players were indoctrinated into a Socialist mindset at whatever Progressive controlled school they came through. That does not mean we need to accept their Socialist views as being views that are best for the unity of citizens of the U.S. and for the support of the U.S. as a Constitutional Republic. It is unfortunate that pro sports may need to die off for a while in order to give sports fans their craved entertainment without political and socially harmful rhetoric in the future.
Could care less what nfl thinks or does. Same nba. If you look at the stadiums, they are full, tailgate parties etc. Socialists have won.
I’m amazed that NFL owners do not understand that agreeing with the Woke and BLM leads us closer to more government control (socialism)because that is what the objective of these groups is.
NFL has paid the extortion payment to the racism complainers and has not regained the freedom to express sorrow for loss as patriotic Americans.
HAVEN’T WATCHED SINCE NFL “WOKE”AND DON’T PLAN ON COMING BACK. uNLESS THEY WAKE UP FOR REAL!
My wife and I used to be huge football fans, Sundays were planned around our team schedule. That was before all of this kneeling and capitulation by the NFL.
Now there are going to be political slogans on the helmets and in the end zone….no thank you!
We have not watched a football game for over a year (except for the Super Bowl to see Tom get his 7th ring!). Nor do we plan on watching this year.
And we are supposed to belief how tough you need to be to play in the NFL. That needs to be clarified. They’ll play like hell for $$$$ but take to the sidelines when principle is involved. They don’t have the stamina for it. Get kids on the soccer field field instead. It takes more skill and stamina than football anyway.
Flush the NFL.
NFL can please the woke crowd, who don’t even attend games, or they can please the millions of patriots who will attend if the players and owners SHOW that they are AMERICANS!
The NFL has taken a sharp decline to the garbage dump//Watched a total of 2 Qtrs.last year Super Bowl game and will probably do the same this year//What a sad group of over paid racist losers//Hope the NFL/NBA/MLB all dry up and go broke for not standing up for our military and police because they deserve this result//
I am not a veteran, but when Kapernick kneeled and disrespected MY country’s Flag during the playing of OUR National Anthem, I was appalled and filled with anger. Since that day, I stopped watching NFL and since, the NBA and MLB games also. My father fought in WWII and my eldest brother was a Green Beret and fought in Vietnam. I WAS a registered Democrat UNTIL I saw that they were becoming Progressively Communist and left them after Jackass Jimmy Carter and am NOT SURPRISED by the extremely offensive behavior of Jackass Joe’s entire Administration’s traitorous behavior! But abandoning American Citizens in Afghanistan is even beyond the greatest outrageous treasonous acts I could ever witness! … Professional Sports? … These pompous, arrogant a-holes deserve to lose their overpaid careers to being stupid and disrespectful to their success DUE TO CAPITALISM! … To Hell with Them All!
The NFL SUCKS, I have not watched Pro Football in 3 Years, and will not watch them as long as they are not 100% Pro- American, the same with Basketball, Hockey and Baseball had better cleanup their act like the boneheaded moving of the All-star game. There is no room in sports, for politics, just play the game and let the viewers decide who and what issues to side with. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of others telling me how I should think, how I should Vote, who I should associate with, what kind of car i should drive (electric or gas), The one thing that all of these slime-balls have forgot is that this is a free country and we all have choses.
Next years election will tell use where this country is headed and if there is not a change in the balance of power we will be left with one chose in re-gaining America the land of the free and the home of the God fearing brave.
Buy Guns and lots, and lots of AMMO.
God Bless America !
P.S. 90% OF ALL Actor, suck as well, I want waste my money on the filth !
The NFL, the owners, coaches, & players can take a long walk off a short pier. I haven’t watched a game in 6 years and I don’t intend to watch a game any time in the future. I would love to see the NFL go broke and meet one of the players at Wal-Mart asking me when I walk in if I need a cart. I wish I could consider them as something more than worthless trash.
Are they still playing professional sports? I can’t imagine any thinking American still watching those self important slugs. How many times do you have to be insulted by these ‘Elite’ athletes before you cut off their income stream?
The NFL is worthless.
Kneeling during national anthem damaged the reputation of NFL much more than they realize. And if they recognize Afghanistan deaths this week, should not they do this for every single military death at any time.
I used to be an NFL watcher before the Kapernick-inspired kneeling movement began. But, since that happened I haven’t watched the NFL at all. I don’t deny athletes the right to their opinions and beliefs, just keep it off the playing field. They can voice there stand through other venues. I also haven’t watched the NBA, MLB, or the Olympics for the same reason. I used to enjoy watching sports as a way to escape politics, but now I only watch golf as they, so far, haven’t succumbed to the political kool aid.