NFL ruling on kneeling for national anthem

[Dan Druff]

As I'm sure you have all heard, earlier this week the NFL ruled that players cannot kneel, sit, or otherwise show disrespect during the national anthem: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...-anthem-policy

I'm 100% behind this decision, and it boggles my mind how any rational human being can think otherwise.

This is NOT about freedom of speech or freedom to protest.

This is about an employer's right to prevent political protest at the workplace which would damage their business.

It is clear that most of the dedicated NFL fan base does NOT like the anthem kneeling, and wants to see it stop. Therefore, the NFL does not want to see the kneeling continue, as it will hurt their brand and profitability.

An employer ALWAYS has the right to dictate that employees refrain from controversial or off-putting behavior while at work. It is never your right to use your workplace as a platform for political protest.

These football players are receiving millions of dollars to work for NFL teams, and in fact only have their high-visibility platform (TV coverage) thanks to the NFL. Therefore, the NFL has every right to set down rules regarding their behavior.

If the players were protesting the anthem on their own time, this would be more complicated. However, it is totally absurd that people think that employees should just be able to decide for themselves if they want to disrupt the workplace with political protests, and expect their to be no consequences if they continue when asked not to.

These players have no right to decide that they can hurt the NFL brand because they feel like it.

This is not about "forced patriotism", either. The players ARE allowed to stay in the locker room during the anthem if they choose. Seems like a good enough concession to me. Now nobody is forced to be part of the anthem ceremony, but they also can't disrupt it.

[SPIT this]

Better solution is to ban the national anthem. Seriously, it's a fucking football game. Do we really need to sing a song beforehand and pledge allegiance to our troops?

[limitles]

You're right about the employer's rights but it's only putting on a face. What's behind it doesn't go away.

The anthem is a piece of shit song anyway but perfect for a country which identifies as a war machine.




And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![42]


Compare that crap with America the Beautiful

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!


O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!


O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife,
When once or twice, for man's avail,
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain,
The banner of the free!

[devidee]

The God King wins...

Again.

[hongkonger]

The God King wins...

Again.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

[lol wow]

the nba has the same fucking rule cucks

[thesidedish]

The God King wins...

Again.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

GOD you are so bad, this quote is completely out of place but thanks for the set up

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/1000499878655508480

[devidee]

The God King wins...

Again.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

That's why the God King is making them stand.

[MumblesBadly]

You're right about the employer's rights but it's only putting on a face. What's behind it doesn't go away.

The anthem is a piece of shit song anyway but perfect for a country which identifies as a war machine.




And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![42]


Compare that crap with America the Beautiful

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!


O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!


O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife,
When once or twice, for man's avail,
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain,
The banner of the free!

Except the Pilgrims came to the New World to set up an autocratic theocracy. Like the modern conservative Chritian movement, their idea of “freedom” was for them to have to freedom to impose their repressive religion on everyone else through the power of the government.

[HoodedN]

A handful of owners have already come out and stated that they will pay any and all fines for players kneeling for the anthem.

Such a tricky issue, and while when I first heard of the new rule I was behind it, thinking about it from both sides I can see why the kneelers are upset. The whole point of a protest is for people to see it taking place and think about why they are protesting, not hiding it behind closed doors and running from the issue. I guess this is just one of those things where you are going to be on one side or the other, depending on who you identify with.

[hongkonger]

A handful of owners have already come out and stated that they will pay any and all fines for players kneeling for the anthem.

Such a tricky issue, and while when I first heard of the new rule I was behind it, thinking about it from both sides I can see why the kneelers are upset. The whole point of a protest is for people to see it taking place and think about why they are protesting, not hiding it behind closed doors and running from the issue. I guess this is just one of those things where you are going to be on one side or the other, depending on who you identify with.

The rule is that the team will be fined, not the player. The NFL did this so they would not have to negotiate with the players' union. The only way for a player to be fined for kneeling would be for the team to impose a fine on the player, which would surely result in a court battle.

[herbertstemple]

The policy subjects teams to a fine if a player or any other team personnel do not show respect for the anthem.

That's it? Throw it back to the teams. No set amount for the fine. Was this a way to get around the Union? Looks weak. Owners are trying to appease the players. Goddell is so far to the left he should stop shaving forever & write his own sports manifesto. This isn't going to stop the kneeling. This isn't going to bring people back.

In the real world, if you have employees hurting the company & costing it money, they are gotten rid of. The NFL pats these malcontents on their fuzzy heads & lets them have their way. Like Jerry Glanville once said to a ref that blew a call, "NFL stands for "Not For Long" when you make calls like that." He could have been talking to NFL ownership.

I'll watch the play offs & Super Bowl this season but that will be it.

[hongkonger]

You're right about the employer's rights but it's only putting on a face. What's behind it doesn't go away.

The anthem is a piece of shit song anyway but perfect for a country which identifies as a war machine.




And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![42]


Compare that crap with America the Beautiful

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!


O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!


O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife,
When once or twice, for man's avail,
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain,
The banner of the free!

Except the Pilgrims came to the New World to set up an autocratic theocracy. Like the modern conservative Chritian movement, their idea of “freedom” was for them to have to freedom to impose their repressive religion on everyone else through the power of the government.

Exactly this. And they may yet get their way.

[Daly]

Better solution is to ban the national anthem. Seriously, it's a fucking football game. Do we really need to sing a song beforehand and pledge allegiance to our troops?

This is the answer right here.

No fucking reason to have it at all

[Dan Druff]

Better solution is to ban the national anthem. Seriously, it's a fucking football game. Do we really need to sing a song beforehand and pledge allegiance to our troops?

This is the answer right here.

No fucking reason to have it at all

If you could go back in time and remove it from all major sports to where nobody was used to having it, I'd agree.

However, it's been ingrained in American sports for a long time, and removing it at this point would appear unpatriotic and anger many fans.

Right now would be the absolute worst time to remove it, as it would signal to fans that the kneelers "won" by getting it removed entirely.

Maybe after some years passed from this controversy it could eventually be removed, but I don't see it happening. It only takes a short time, and overall sports fans tend to be on the patriotic side (rooting for a team also indicates a higher likelihood to root for your country as if it's a team), so there would be little benefit to attempting its removal.

[hongkonger]

I hope the players kneel anyway, if that's what they want to do.

[hongkonger]

As I'm sure you have all heard, earlier this week the NFL ruled that players cannot kneel, sit, or otherwise show disrespect during the national anthem: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...-anthem-policy

I'm 100% behind this decision, and it boggles my mind how any rational human being can think otherwise.

This is NOT about freedom of speech or freedom to protest.

This is about an employer's right to prevent political protest at the workplace which would damage their business.

It is clear that most of the dedicated NFL fan base does NOT like the anthem kneeling, and wants to see it stop. Therefore, the NFL does not want to see the kneeling continue, as it will hurt their brand and profitability.

An employer ALWAYS has the right to dictate that employees refrain from controversial or off-putting behavior while at work. It is never your right to use your workplace as a platform for political protest.

These football players are receiving millions of dollars to work for NFL teams, and in fact only have their high-visibility platform (TV coverage) thanks to the NFL. Therefore, the NFL has every right to set down rules regarding their behavior.

If the players were protesting the anthem on their own time, this would be more complicated. However, it is totally absurd that people think that employees should just be able to decide for themselves if they want to disrupt the workplace with political protests, and expect their to be no consequences if they continue when asked not to.

These players have no right to decide that they can hurt the NFL brand because they feel like it.

This is not about "forced patriotism", either. The players ARE allowed to stay in the locker room during the anthem if they choose. Seems like a good enough concession to me. Now nobody is forced to be part of the anthem ceremony, but they also can't disrupt it.

How do you reconcile this with your position on social media platforms censoring conservatives? They have always had the right to do so. Just curious.

[Crowe Diddly]

I'm 100% behind this decision, and it boggles my mind how any rational human being can think otherwise.

I was going to say that not even all the owners think its a good policy, but then I realized the one I was going to quote was the Jets owner, so I'll stay out of this one, I guess.

[garrett]

always surprising to me how well they get paid and they can't just shut up and do their job

[anonamoose]

As I'm sure you have all heard, earlier this week the NFL ruled that players cannot kneel, sit, or otherwise show disrespect during the national anthem: http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...-anthem-policy

I'm 100% behind this decision, and it boggles my mind how any rational human being can think otherwise.

This is NOT about freedom of speech or freedom to protest.

This is about an employer's right to prevent political protest at the workplace which would damage their business.

the NFL loses that right when they politicize the game by adding military displays and requiring the national anthem at their games.

It is clear that most of the dedicated NFL fan base does NOT like the anthem kneeling, and wants to see it stop. Therefore, the NFL does not want to see the kneeling continue, as it will hurt their brand and profitability.

sweeping generalisation with no proof or real evidence.

An employer ALWAYS has the right to dictate that employees refrain from controversial or off-putting behavior while at work. It is never your right to use your workplace as a platform for political protest.

except when there's a union, so no.

These football players are receiving millions of dollars to work for NFL teams, and in fact only have their high-visibility platform (TV coverage) thanks to the NFL. Therefore, the NFL has every right to set down rules regarding their behavior.

again, union

If the players were protesting the anthem on their own time, this would be more complicated. However, it is totally absurd that people think that employees should just be able to decide for themselves if they want to disrupt the workplace with political protests, and expect their to be no consequences if they continue when asked not to.

so since Vick was killing dogs on his own time, the NFL had no right to punish him?

These players have no right to decide that they can hurt the NFL brand because they feel like it.

This is not about "forced patriotism", either. The players ARE allowed to stay in the locker room during the anthem if they choose. Seems like a good enough concession to me. Now nobody is forced to be part of the anthem ceremony, but they also can't disrupt it.