The NFL is destroying itself

 

Derek Hunter at Townhall has thoughts:

The NFL is a private business and they’re free to commit economic suicide any time and any way they so choose, I couldn’t care less from that standpoint. But the idea that any organization that wants my support, and more to the point my money and time, would embrace the idea that there is such a thing as a “black national anthem” and expect me to be cool with it, shows I’ve probably waited too long to walk away. 

. . .

Now the league that prided itself on integrating years before baseball is embracing the segregation it rejected in the past. They’ll now play the national anthem and the “black national anthem” before each game, as well as badger fans with left-wing political messages of victimhood and division. I don’t think there’s a big audience for pampered athletes lecturing their audience about how awful the country, and by extension they are, while those athletes make more for 3 hours of work on a Sunday than the people watching on TV do in a year. Maybe I’m wrong, but last year’s ratings collapse suggests otherwise. 

The NFL doesn’t care all that much because a large percentage of their revenue is through corporate sponsorship. 

The full article is here.  We all know die-hard football fans; heck, some conservatives are die-hard football fans.  But if you are passionate about the sport, how do you reconcile that with a passion for the American National Anthem?

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Jim Brown on President Trump, our national anthem, and race

Photo credit: mmqb.si.com

I’m old enough to remember football legend Jim Brown playing for the Cleveland Browns back in the 1960’s. He is still "the greatest football player of all time." And he is speaking up about President Trump, taking a knee, and the black community. Brian Kilmeade interviewed him on Fox and Friends. I missed it, but Steven Beyer at Western Journal reported on the interview:

NFL legend and social activist Jim Brown appeared on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning and delivered a charge to the “black community” by asking it to take responsibility over shifting the blame onto President Donald Trump.

The former star running back started the interview by heaping praise on Trump for being “accessible.”

He told Fox’s Brian Kilmeade, “I have access to the president, and anytime I have access to the president, and he will listen to my thoughts, that’s all I can ask of him.”

“This president is accessible,” Brown said. “He’s different. He’s challenging, and he pays attention to what I say.”

Brown then turned his attention to the black community, telling Kilmeade, “We should look at ourselves first before we look at the president.”

Kilmede asked him if he felt Trump was doing a good job of “producing” for the black community.

“Well, I tell you it’s very hard to produce for the black community in a certain way,” Brown replied. “The black community, and I’m a part of the black community, has a responsibility regardless of what the president does. If you have a homicide rate in your black community, then it’s not the president that’s created that homicide rate. It’s the black community itself that needs to address it.”

“So I don’t want to put everything on him, and I’m sorry to say the black community is not doing what we should do, and that includes myself,” Brown added.

Kilmede asked Brown if he believed the president to be a racist.

“I’m so glad you asked me that,” Brown replied. “Of course not. Is America racist? Of course not.”

Brown went on talk about the national anthem protests saying, “We should never denigrate our flag and our national anthem. We should always be Americans first and we should work our butts off to do the right thing and make it a better country.”

“But to not respect your flag and national anthem is something I’d never do,” he added.

The video interview is embedded at the link here.

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Another reason not to watch the Super Bowl

Even those of us who are not football fans sometimes turn the TV on just to watch the ads. Not this year. The Army Times reports:

AMVETS officials are decrying "corporate censorship" from the National Football League for their decision not to run an ad in their Super Bowl program which responds to league players’ decision to kneel for the national anthem in protest of national equality issues.

The ad, which would have cost the veterans organization $30,000, features the tag "#PleaseStand" with a picture of service members saluting the American flag and information on how to donate to the congressionally-chartered organization.

Group leaders said NFL officials refused to include the ad in their Super Bowl publication, but did not issue a reason why.

Ace of Spades comments:

The NFL claims it doesn't permit ads that could be interpreted as making a political statement.

Oh, sure, the NFL totally doesn't want political statements during its games. That's why it's permitted a year and a half of National Anthem protests, I guess.

Sad to see the American sports culture in self-destruct mode.

UPDATE: The Hill reports that former NFL quarterback and Kneeler-in-Chief Colin Kaepernick has been named a finalist for the NFL Players Association 'Community MVP' award.  

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NFL = No Fans Left

 photo credit: IJR

   

The Independent Journal Review published photographs of several football stadiums, like the one above, of NFL games yesterday; they are half-full at kick-off! From the photo-article:

As more and more football players have protested during the national anthem and President Donald Trump has spoken out against them, fans have fired back at the National Football League for not taking action by boycotting, which has resulted in ticket sales plummeting.

Pictures of empty stadiums are the best way to see just how powerful the boycott truly is.

Click here to see more half-empty stadiums.

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The Browns are still losers

A group of Browns players raised their fists 

during the playing of the national anthem on Sunday.

(Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)

The Browns are still losers. Photo and caption above, and story here on cleveland.com.

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Alejandro Villanueva throws himself under the bus

In my blog earlier today, I wrote:

It’s a sad day when Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva makes headlines for standing for our Anthem, the coach deplores his decision (while inadvertently exhibiting his support for lockstep groupthink) while the rest of the Steelers hide in the locker room

Now, this lousy development (h/t Conservative Treehouse):

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NFL takes a knee

Cleveland Browns just before the game

photo credit : The Telegraph

UPDATE at 7:04 (see next blog here). 

There’s tons of commentary on the NFL’s growing disrespect for our National Anthem and flag, and by extension, the American people. The essay by Daniel John Sobieski at American Thinker struck me as one of the best. Here’s a short extract:

Those who take a knee were indeed given that right by many who no longer have knees and are privileged to take a knee in a sport paid for by millions of fans who may disagree with them and who paid to see a game, not a protest. Players who take a knee think they are being patriotic, when they are merely being self-indulgent and selfish. Go rent out a stadium and invite people to pay just to see you take a knee and see if anybody shows up. 

The rest is here. Chris Buskirk at American Greatness has another worthwhile take:

Intoxicated with their own sense of self-righteousness today’s athlete-protesters look more like rich drunks spouting nonsense than responsible citizens seeking redress. And in doing so they have popped the sports bubble and reminded us that we should stop idolizing overprivileged millionaire Millennials who disrespect this country, her people, and her history. Millions of Americans have recoiled at the divisiveness brought into sports by people like Kaepernick and Curry. And for this we can thank them.

The rest of Buskirk’s essay is here. 

It’s a sad day when Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva makes headlines for standing for our Anthem; then the coach deplores Villanuevo's decision (while inadvertently exhibiting his support for lockstep groupthink); the rest of the Steelers hide in the locker room; and the Browns lose again -- in more ways than one. 

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Standing for the flag or kneeling with some of the Browns

Sometimes it’s the little things that you can do. Cleveland.com reported on the President of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association Steve Loomis’s announcement that officers would not participate in opening ceremonies with the Cleveland Browns:

Cleveland's police union will not be holding the American flag for a pregame ceremony for the Brown's first game Sept. 10, Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Steve Loomis said late Friday.

Union members had planned on participating in the flag ceremony for the first game on Sept. 10 until some Browns players kneeled during the National Anthem before a preseason game, Loomis said in an interview with cleveland.com.

The players not standing for the national anthem is offensive because of the sacrifices that people make that allows these guys to enjoy the success that they have, Loomis said. While they're benefiting from protection of the flag they are kneeling in disrespect of it, he said.

Joining the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association out of respect for our flag is “the union that represents the city's dispatchers, EMTs and paramedics.”

Cleveland.com also reported on Police Chief Calvin Williams’s response:

we as Cleveland Police Officers strive to open the lines of communication with all of our citizens--athletes and enthusiastic Browns fans alike. Who are we kidding?! We are CLEVELAND!! And we stay strong together. We stand together. 

Moving forward, I can tell you that we within the Cleveland Division of Police are in communication with the Cleveland Browns Organization as we have been in the past. We want to hear from our players, the fans and our citizens of this great city. We want to bridge the gap. We want to talk.

I look forward to a continued partnership with our CLEVELAND athletes, our community and a great BROWNS season!!!"

Loomis respects our flag and National Anthem and takes a stand. As I see it, Cleveland Police Chief Williams is not taking that stand. 

You can email both Steve Loomis and Chief Williams to let them know what you think:

• Steve Loomis at <Steveloomis[insert the ‘at” symbol]aol.com>
• For Police Chief Calvin Williams, click here and choose “City Services” and “Division of Police” in the drop-downs. 

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Cleveland Browns: new ways to lose

At American Thinker today, Silvio Canto, Jr. comments on the dozen Cleveland Browns players who decided to follow Colin Kaepernick’s "example" at the game over the weekend:

Over the years, we've grown accustomed to the National Anthem to start sporting events.  It means that the umpire is about to say "play ball," or the referee is about to flip the coin.  It's like a prayer before dinner or one of those moments when you see the big picture, where you are part of something bigger than yourself.

A few days ago, some of the Cleveland Browns decided to create their 15 minutes of fame.  They decided to take a knee during the National Anthem.

Here is the story:

On Monday, before their game against the New York Giants, a dozen Cleveland Browns players took a knee during the playing of the national anthem while several players placed a hand on the shoulders of kneeling players in a show of support, ESPN reports.

"There's a lot of racial and social injustices in the world that are going on right now," Browns rookie safety Jabrill Peppers told ESPN. "We just decided to take a knee and pray for the people who have been affected and just pray for the world in general."

Players said linebacker Christian Kirksey led the prayer.

"We did it out of respect," Kirksey said. "No disrespect for anyone, we just felt like it was the right time and the need to do it."

No disrespect for anyone?  What about respect for the National Anthem or the flag?

. . . a 3-13 team projected to go 2-14 should be grateful that anyone pays to see them play or gives them a uniform to wear.

The Browns are finding more ways to be losers. Sad.

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Excellent reminder of why we stand for the National Anthem

photo credit: sportsleader.org

Well, this was refreshing to read. From Legal Insurrection:

Kneeling during the national anthem has taken the sports by storm since San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick began it during preseason to protest police treatment of black people. Other NFL players have done it along with high school football players.

But Virginia Tech basketball coach Buzz Williams will not have that behavior in his house. Instead, he chose to show his players why we stand for the national anthem. We do it to honor the men and women who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy our freedom at home.

There’s a 4½ minute video of coach Williams on the website. Various versions have been up on YouTube for over a year, but the recent disrespect exhibited by the SF quarterback makes it timely. The video on the LI website shows over 34 million views! It's inspiring.

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