By Mike Vallee
The tone and tenor of last Sunday’s games changed on Friday night when the President of the United States, while giving a fiery speech in Alabama, decided to take some shots at the NFL and its players, specifically those that chose not to stand during the National Anthem. This set off a fierce reaction across the NFL amongst both players and management, much of it centered around what they would do during the Anthem week 3. Here are some of the highlights:
-Hail to the Chief: This latest and heated chapter in the Anthem brouhaha started Friday night with this quote from Trump:
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”
-For starters, with President Trump currently in a dick-measuring contest with nuclear “Rocket man” Kim Jong Un and millions of Americans dealing with the devastation wrought by multiple hurricanes, I’m glad his priorities are to worry about what NFL players are doing during the National Anthem. Of course Trump would later deny this was a distraction and, in the Trumpiest way possible, justify focusing on this issue by claiming, “I have plenty of time on my hands….all I do is work.” Excuse me Mr. President but I believe those are mutually exclusive. Trump then suggested a boycott of the NFL:
“When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they’re playing our great national anthem. The only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore, anyway.”
-The President is now drifting into unprecedented waters as it is almost unfathomable for a sitting President to suggest a boycott of a private business, particularly one as important and powerful as the NFL. Can you imagine the reaction by Trump supporters if President Obama suggested people stop going to Walmart because he doesn’t like one of their policies. The following day on Twitter, Trump continued to tread towards dangerous and, again, unprecedented waters when he tweeted this:
“If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”
-While this isn’t a full-blown assault on the First Amendment, after all he’s not sending in troops to arrest kneeling football players, it is dangerously close. It is unheard of for a sitting President to express that somebody should lose their job if they express a certain opinion, regardless of what that opinion is. And how about the President double-dipping with his Apprentice catch-phrase, “You’re Fired!” It’s probably not wise for a President to remind everybody that his most recent work experience consisted of vital decisions like whether or not to fire Gary Busey. I suspect some of Trump’s staff wish they could take away his First Amendment rights.
-Flippity Floppity: It’s worth noting that Trump hasn’t exactly been consistent on this issue. In a 2015 appearance on the Late Show he said Letterman was “100 percent right” to defend flag-burning as an act of free-expression.
-Emperor Mnuchin: It also doesn’t help when your Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin says this, “Players have the right for free speech off the field. On the field, this is about respect for lots of people…”
Sorry Steve, but that’s not how it works. Our Constitution and it’s sacred Amendments are not part-time commitments to be applied when certain members of the government see fit. Then again what do you expect from Mnuchin who might have married the worst human being on earth. Seriously, Google, “Louise Linton terrible person”.
-Nuclear Reaction: Not surprisingly, the reaction to Trump’s comments from current and former players went something like this:
“It’s a shame and disgrace when you have the president of the US calling citizens of the country sons of a bitches.”
-Bishop Sankey
“It’s really sad man … our president is an asshole.”
-LeSean McCoy
-Colin Kaepernick’s Mom might have had the funniest response: “I guess that makes me a proud bitch.”
-Robert Kraft and Tom Brady, both of whom received some backlash for their support of Trump during the presidential campaign, criticised the President’s comments with Brady calling them “divisive” and Kraft issuing a statement lamenting the “tone” of the comments.
With much anticipation, Sunday arrived and suddenly all eyes were on the first 5 minutes of every game, and if you were looking for drama it did not disappoint.
-Pass the Crumpets Old Boy: It started with the first game, Ravens vs Jaguars in London. Both teams had players kneel during the Anthem, with the Ravens adding a special touch by including murder accomplice team leader Ray Lewis. It should be noted that both teams stood for Britain’s National Anthem, “God Save the Queen”. It’s certainly a strange look to kneel for your Anthem on foreign soil but stand for an Anthem that is basically an ode to some pretend title whose primary job description is to look fancy and wave funny.
-Pats take a Knee: Several players from the New England Patriots took a knee for the first time all year, including Devin McCourty and Malcolm Brown. Other players, such as Tom Brady, choose to stand and lock arms. Belichick issued this statement then surprised nobody by going mum on the topic. The statement was predictably safe and vague and told us little about how this guy, who once drafted a long-snapper in the 5th round just because he went to Navy, really feels.
-The Pittsburgh Steelers chose to remain in their locker room during the Anthem but because Mike Tomlin is about as good at managing his team as he is at game-planning for the Patriots, things didn’t quite go as planned. They went something like this: Steelers decide to stay in the locker room, but their LT Alejandro Villanueva is a badass war hero and decides he wants to be outside during the Anthem, then someone takes a picture of Villanueva alone with his hand over his heart during the Anthem prompting his jersey to become the number one selling jersey in the NFL and triggering his coach to say something about team unity which causes Villanueva to apologize for breaking away from his team even though Tomlin says he wasn’t actually criticising the left tackle and thus the apology was unnecessary, particularly because Villanueva says he got permission from captain Ben Roethlisberger who later claimed he regretted the decision to stay in the locker room in the first place. Got it. I have a headache, let’s move on.
-Shut Up and Sing: The Falcons/Lions game was witness to a National Anthem first when Anthem singer Rico Lavelle took a knee at the end of the song. I attended the Roger Waters concert Wednesday night at the TD Garden and the excessively political Waters also took a knee and was loudly booed by some in attendance even though it wasn’t even during the National Anthem. Perhaps they just wanted to hear more music but there is also a chance we have all lost our collective minds.
-Texas Two-Step: For those players that did not take a knee many choose to stand and lock arms, like the Houston Texans, whose entire team stood arm-and-arm during the Anthem. On Monday Night Football the Cowboys added a wrinkle with the entire team kneeling arm-and-arm before the Anthem was played or the American flag was displayed, then standing during the Anthem. This made for some good television as there are few things more out of place and awkwardly entertaining than watching Jerry Jones attempting to do the right thing.
-Nuclear Reaction 2.0: Of course, all of this Anthem activity led to a bevy of reactions:
-The Patriot Way: One of the strongest initial reactions was from former Patriot LT Matt Light who watched the game from a private suite at Gillette with a Seal Team 6 member, a widow of a Seal Team 6 member and 91-year-old WW II vet. Speaking on radio Light said, “I feel like it’s the first time I’ve ever felt disappointed in this team. That’s not the Patriot way.” Light continued, “We should be standing for the National Anthem…..we should honor and respect what the National Anthem stands for, and if you can’t stand for it, you’re wrong.” Light later said that the Seal Team 6 widow cried when the players took a knee and implied that taking a knee during the Anthem was disrespectful to those that served our country.
It’s easy to understand where Light is coming from and clearly his heart is in the right place, but I don’t understand this direct link many draw between the Anthem and our military. I personally would never kneel during the National Anthem, for any reason, but I don’t consider such an act some sort of direct attack on our military, and it seems unfair to put that label on the protesters. The Anthem is not a song for our military it is a song for our country and the reality is many vets have expressed support for those that are protesting. Patriots WR Brandin Cooks, who also took a knee, appeared to be reacting to those accusations when he went out of his way to remind everyone that his Dad was a Marine, his uncle was a Marine and he has “The utmost respect for the men and women that fight for our freedom”.
-View from the Slot: Representing the other side, ex-Patriot Troy Brown called Trump’s comments “offensive” and “outrageous” and asked the President to apologize. He then added, “So please sir, please refrain from the insults of not just NFL football players but many people who don’t look like you.” Good luck with that Troy but apologies aren’t exactly the President’s thing.
-You Might be a Redneck: The strong reactions were not limited to the NFL. NASCAR legend Richard Petty, a guy with red, white and blue blood pumping thru his veins, went full blown Toby Keith at the NH Motor Speedway when asked about the protests, “Anybody that don’t stand up for the anthem ought to be out of the country. Period. What got ’em where they’re at? The United States.” A little harsh, no? Throwing people out of the country for not standing for an Anthem sounds a lot more like Berlin in the 1930s. Kind of ironic that he would say that in the “Live Free or Die” state.
-Dale Earnhardt Jr, however, decided to remind us that not everybody in NASCAR shares the same brain, when he responded with this JFK inspired tweet, “All Americans are granted right to peaceful protests. Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.” Now that takes balls to defend a bunch of black guys taking a knee during the National Anthem when you are a superstar in the whitest red neck sport in America.
-Burning Man: Fan reactions also rolled in, with Swansea, Massachusetts taking the lead Thursday night, as Patriots fan Mark Shane hosted an awkward and slightly depressing jersey burning party where apparently no actual jerseys were burned. Instead it just looked like an excuse to sit around a fire pit, wave American flags, sing Lee Greenwood and burn some old t-shirts. Watching the video of this patriotic pop-up party I couldn’t help but wonder if any of the participants blame the man most responsible for all the NFL kneel downs that occurred last Sunday – President Trump. Prior to Trump lashing out at NFL players for kneeling during the Anthem, roughly a dozen players had done so, but on Sunday that numbered ballooned up to an estimated 300, almost all the direct result of Trump’s comments. Perhaps Trump should make this a permanent tactic and start telling people to do the opposite of what he really wants.
-Ballad of the Green Beret: If you’re wondering why sitting during the Anthem shifted to kneeling during the Anthem you can thank former long-snapper and Green Beret Nate Boyer, who had an impactful discussion with the guy that got this whole ball rolling, Colin Kaepernick. Boyer explained to Kaepernick how soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen comrades grave as a sign of respect, and suggested Kaepernick do the same. Kaepernick was moved by this suggestion and eventually changed tactics, from sitting to kneeling.
-Silence is Golden: Kaepernick has been surprisingly quiet during this week and that might be a good thing. Even if you agree with his motivation to protest the Anthem he has always been a deeply flawed face of the movement who is prone to insulting the police, making bizarre comments like his factually inaccurate praise of Cuba and appearing to be nothing more than a mouthpiece for his outspoken girlfriend. Kaepernick said he is done kneeling but if he is signed it would be hard to imagine him not joining the fray with how much the landscape has changed on this issue.
-Place your Bets: Here’s something you can always count on: If anything sports related captures the national conscience, then somebody will make sure that you can bet on it. This week Bovada released an under/over for the number of teams that will stay in the locker room during the National Anthem Week 4 of the NFL. The number was set at 3. They also released this interesting prop bet:
What will happen first during the NFL season:
-Trump attends an NFL game: +150
-Colin Kaepernick signs with an NFL team: -200
-The Anthem protests finally jumped sports this week with Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell taking a knee to provide a voice for the “voiceless”. He also kept his hand over his heart while kneeling and made a point after the game of reaffirming his love for this country and pointed out that his father is a military vet. With the NBA season around the corner it will be interesting to see what the players do in a league that is overwhelmingly black yet has a rule that you must stand for the National Anthem.
-I Know You Are but What Am I: This week Trump also decided that going to war with one sports league wasn’t enough and dragged the NBA onto the cultural battlefield when he rescinded an invitation to Steph Curry to attend a White House ceremony for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. That’s gotta be the first disinvitation in presidential history. Does it count as a disinvitation if the other party had zero intention of accepting your initial invitation? What’s next, is Trump going to disinvite Kim Jong Un from his birthday party?
-Face of the league LeBron James chimed in, because LeBron literally has to inject himself into everything, calling Trump a “bum” on Twitter. LeBron commented in earlier in the week on Trump’s feud with NFL players saying, “The people run the country, not one individual – and damn sure not him”.
-High Horse: Perhaps no NBA personality had a more passionate reaction to this week’s events than Gregg Popovich who went on a self-righteous rant where he declared, amongst other things, that “People have to be made to feel uncomfortable; especially white people. We still have no clue what being white means…..Because you were born white, you have advantages systemically, culturally, psychology there.” It is unfortunate we convolute everything into race when so many so called “advantages” are often economic based. I personally have several white friends that grew up in housing projects and had to deal with everything from poverty and welfare to drug abuse and mental illness. One of my friends practically took care of his entire family because his father was doing life in prison. Does he sound like somebody that was born with systemic advantages? Yes racism is still a problem in this country but not to the degree where it should be automatically injected into all discussions of social issues, many of which transcend race.