The NFL has a new national anthem policy. It says that any player who is on the field during the anthem has to stand. Conversely, players can also remain in the locker room during the anthem. If a player is on the field and kneels, their team will be fined.
So we will have no free speech here in the NFL.
Ironically, this is about as much of a ham-fisted policy as you can get. The league put the rule in place last month without a vote by the owners. They did so in an effort to try to keep the big orange baby in the Oval Office from his assault on the league. There were reports that that shitdick wanted to raise taxes on pro sports leagues, which, go ahead… but the uber-rich can’t have that. They must appease big orange baby in some way.
So we will preemptively throw free speech out the window to do so.
And the irony gets deeper. Big orange baby’s assault on the league has not subsided, despite the stupid anthem policy specifically created by The Ginger Hammer to appease big orange baby. Earlier this week, big orange baby cancelled the White House visit of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. He didn’t have to cancel it because no one was going to show up anyway, but big orange baby then framed said cancellation as the Eagles abandoning their fans.
Were Eagles fans invited to the event along with the team?
No. No they weren’t.
So what did the Eagles abandon? Their fans?
No. They abandoned big orange baby and big orange baby’s feelings were hurt.
“Big orange baby sad! Big orange baby change narrative so big orange baby feel better about self! Big orange baby have no friends…”
Anyway, three Packers sat during the national anthem last year. Those players were cornerback Kevin King and tight ends Lance Kendricks and Martellus Bennett. After the display, Kendricks said he wanted to bring awareness to disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico, which is where his wife is from.
And let us also note that Puerto Rico, despite being a commonwealth of the United States, was getting no help after being devastated by Hurricane Maria. Big orange baby was too busy fixing his combover.
Now, in general, most players sit or peacefully protest to shine a light on police brutality and racial inequality.
And maybe you’re a racist and you don’t care about the rights of non-white people. Even if that’s the case, I would still suspect you believe in free speech and that inalienable right.
Several members of the Packers do. Second-year cornerback Kevin King probably said it best.
“People are stubborn,” King said. “Like, if you ask somebody why they’re doing something, and they give you the answer, and then you say, OK, and you change the answer, what’s the point in even asking them the question in the first place? How are you going to tell somebody else why they’re protesting? It’s been time and time again guys will say it has nothing to do with the flag, it’s police brutality and racial inequality and all this stuff, but then it’s a matter of disrespecting the flag.
“In their head, they’re mad because of what they think somebody else is doing. And I could see that if it was still up to speculation, if players haven’t talked about the reasons. But nobody has come out and said, ‘I’m sitting or I’m kneeling to disrespect the flag.’ So not one person has said that, but the issue is still about disrespecting the flag.”
Fuckin A.
Unfortunately, King is asking or assuming a portion of the populace can’t be ignorant. But some shitheels are just born that way and there’s really nothing that can be done.
Here’s Davante Adams, who pretty much echoes King’s take.
“The whole point of it in the beginning was the anthem was used as a vehicle to protest inequality, and it got somehow twisted into the fact that athletes don’t have appreciation for the armed forces or people that protect this country. It has nothing to do with that, and it was made clear. People still ignored.
“It’s a free country. I feel like you shouldn’t be punished over something like that. I don’t know if it’s a money issue with the league or whatever it is, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. People will make their decisions, and we’ll see how everything pans out.”
Honestly, we don’t expect anyone on the Packers to protest during the anthem in 2018. However, if someone wanted to, it’s their right to do so. Unlike the NFL, we will never take a giant dump on free speech.
But way to go Ginger Hammer. Your ham-fisted plan to appease big orange baby has not only failed, but pissed off your employees in the process.
Couldn’t disagree with you more. The players are employees. They work for a corporation. Any company should, and does, have the right to determine behavior in the work place. Kneeling for the Anthem was an ill-thought out, and very poorly articulated, idea from a pedestrian quarterback.
This debacle makes both the eagles and Trump look like dipshits.
Where were all these guys during the off season? Where were all their marches, meetings, gatherings, protests? Were they too busy spending all those millions partying and getting laid to fight their perceived injustices?
Or maybe they did happen and Mordecai missed reporting on all those events? But it’s not like him to miss an opportunity to virtue signal.
Mordi is an idiot, what do you expect?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/2018/1/31/16935356/colin-kaepernick-donate-organizations-million-dollar-pledge-10-for-10
Everyone missed it. even the National media. We never heard one example. I’m guessing that standing in upheaval against unacceptable social injustices……..only works during an NFL National anthem.
Which coincidentally….requires the least amount of effort from the players, as they don’t even need to travel, they are already there….at work in their employer’s uniform..
Wow Mordi, looks like someone is still mad they lost the election. Maybe you and the players need to remember that it does come across as disrespecting the flag and the military. I think of the picture of the grieving mother with arms draped over her fallen son’s casket. That’s why we stand and that’s why we pay respect.
Whats the over/under in this article concerning false statements, lies, and simple undeniable stupidity?
10? 20? 30?
hey dipshit, the over/under is a concept used in betting on something that hasnt happened yet. To ask what the o/u is on somethign that happened that you can read and count is retarded.
lol, that’s cute, copying my username….very cool. That’s somethign i never thought of doing. It works for you though.
I won’t get into the debate. I do want to remind anyone that reads this article that the author was the same person that called TJ Lang a Motherfucker when Lang signed with Detroit. I guess Lang did not have that freedom of action in the mind of Jones. Jones took a big dump on TJ Lang’s right of free will, because well…. Jones doesn’t like it if you don’t think or act the way Jones thinks you should, right or wrong. And by God Jones is the voice of reason just ask him and he will yell the loudest.
One thing for sure is I may or may not agree with Adams or King, but I would suggest to both that they distance theirselves from the likes of Jones.
The majority of the populace is not ignorant. But some shitheels like Jones are just born that way and there’s really nothing that can done.
“It’s been time and time again guys will say it has nothing to do with the flag” – K. King
Then………why is it, the ONLY time you see players protest, is during a time when the flag is honored?
Lang IS a motherfuker for signing with the enemy. How hard is this to understand
What good are employers, if you can’t use their business, their platform, their time, for you to try and bring change to social issues? – said by nobody intelligent
Before this author try’s to process thought, he should have someone explain to him the definition and true meaning of freedom of speech in all it’s context. Then when he still doesn’t understand it, get someone else to explain it to him and so on and…. (use pictures if need be).
Kevin King of all people has far more important things to worry about than being brainwashed by the likes of Martellus Bennett. Like trying not to get beat 1-2 seconds after almost every snap. Notice how Rodgers distanced himself from Bennett and that whole ordeal, entirely. Take note young Kevin King
Anyone remember when football articles were about….football? We weren’t reading “Big orange baby ” ten times in the same article.
This is a workplace. If you don’t like the rules then pack your bags and fucking go somewhere else. This is not a platform for you to preach to your employers’ customers about whatever you want. If you become such an issue that you start to cost your employer millions of dollars then they have every right to get rid of you and take precautions to make sure that it never happens again.
I understand that the protests were about police brutality and got turned into “the players are disrespecting the flag.” To me, I don’t care about the kneeling. But to some people it doesn’t matter what your original cause was because they view kneeling during the anthem as a disrespectful act no matter what the reason. It isn’t the NFL’s job to describe these nuances to fans because they shouldn’t have to. They’re in the sports entertainment industry, not the social activism industry. They shouldn’t have to describe their players actions to fans over shit that has nothing to do with football. If you can’t get on board with that then there’s the door. To paint this as an attack on free speech is a load of crap. The players can protest whatever they want, whenever they want, on their own time.
Thank you!!!
Voice of reason, right between the eye’s!
I couldn’t care less about protesting during the anthem. The president defining what it means to be American is more concerning. Reminds me of Favre defining what a true Packer fan is. Fuck both those guys.
Lemme give you a simple for instance.
Let’s say I’m employed by an organic farmer. My boss raises organic grass fed beef. My boss likes to take his/her product to the Madison Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings at the Capitol Square (public property).
Let’s say while manning the stand I get into conversations with customers that organic food in general is a racket and my bosses product is seriously over-priced. I tell them they can get comparable goodness at a butcher shop just out of town.
My boss overhears or finds out about my musings and I’m fired. Was I exercising freedom of speech on public property? Yes. Was the firing justified? You bet.
The workplace is where freedom of speech goes to die. You do not enjoy these absolutes while wearing your employer’s uniform, representing the team, the league, the city, the fan base, and on the clock. Sure, it is understood that the anthem time on national TV gives ultimate exposure and that is why it was done the way it was. That still doesn’t make it legally correct. College educated football players should be able to understand that.
Two shits are not given for how noble or righteous you think the underlying reason is. Black lives matter, orange lives matter, profiling, bad comb overs, over-simplistic LA writers with personal agendas, or social justice warrior football players. The foundational matter here is rooted in the difference between personal time for freedom of speech and workplace speech.
Figure it out, because fans aren’t likely to put up with much more of this whining and bullshit.
Randall Cobb thinks the same way, btw.
The underlying cause was one man’s reaction to something he thought actionable. The action was taken, the reaction occurred and the dialogue since has been almost exclusively over the appropriateness of the initial action. The root issue as the cause of action has received a stepchild’s attention. This has played out with heavy Trumpian tones; obfuscate the central issue with a lot of white noise and histrionics aimed at the person responsible for bringing it to light. It’s easy to see how the man won The White House if the citizens readily sing along on so many issues.
A large chunk of the populace struggles to reconcile whether these players have the right to express their concerns over a small chunk of the populace getting their shit blown away by cops with bad wiring.
I don’t know about y’all, but it seems like angst over how and when someone takes a knee falls would rank pretty low on a list that includes being murdered because of your race.
You NAILED this PERIOD.
In reverse order….
Except of course if your (in your own words) murdered by your own race. That’s right, unarmed black people murdered by black police officers (do some research). But you go ahead and stick to your own story, reality doesn’t fit your narrative of it being a race issue. Or should we choose to ignore it when black officers cause the death of unarmed black men. Once again, that reality doesn’t fit the narrative of creating a racial issue does it?
A large chunk of the populace struggle to reconcile why little innocent children are being killed daily by stray gunfire in their neighborhoods all over the Country and nobody says boo about it. Far more children die that way than death caused by police. So where is the outrage over that? Where are the protesters? Who is taking a knee for these innocent children sleeping on their couch, or their own bed and getting shot to death by their own. It has often been asked why no outrage?. Some say there simply is no money in that. I don’t know the answer, but maybe it’s time people start giving a fuck about issues like that. Maybe that, doesn’t get “protesters” face time on TV, idk. Maybe the deaths (murders) that are caused by their own, are just ignored and not viewed as a problem, apparently. Which would explain when gang bangers kill each other, or a 6 year old girl who dies from bullet holes in her head that came through the wall of their home, or when a black officer kills an unarmed black men. Those issues we don’t hear about from protesters. so i guess they aren’t a problem
The underlying cause was one man wearing pig socks, white pig socks. Then somebody explained to him that he shouldn’t wear them, it wasn’t a good look. He listened, and stopped wearing them
Then that same person decided to sit during the National Anthem. Then somebody once again, had to explain to him that he shouldn’t do that, that it was disrespectful. He listened, and changed to a kneel. (most of the populace view those 2 actions much the same).
So in other words, when Kaepernick does his own thinking, he’s a trainwreck, luckily someone was around to do his thinking for him.
Trump…….This issue has nothing to do with Trump, it really doesn’t. Trump is just background noise. If anyone was really concerned, and cared about the injustice issue they protest, Trump would NOT be part of this conversation, but what do all you people do? You make Trump the issue with your own political angst and thrust him into the conversation of racial injustice.
Exactly where it doesn’t belong, it’s not about Trump, it’s about social injustice…..isn’t it?
But other than that Savage…you fucking nailed it bro.
I appreciate your perspective as well as the fact I don’t share it.
Black cops “murdering” unarmed black men isn’t a perspective, it’s a reality based fact. Again, doesn’t fit your narrative.
Another great exercise in the use of cognitive dissonance! Pulled off (once again) by PF4L. Remember . . . it IS all about YOUR narrative.
Listen up little man. I was simply explaining to him it wasn’t entirely a race issue, not when some of the unarmed black men are dying at the hands of armed black cops.
So, you can try to sound like the smartest guy in the room, enjoy yourself. You can even lay down some more $20 words on us, i’m sure everyone’s highly impressed. I just don’t have the time, or the inclination to explain these simple things to you in hopes that someday, maybe you could possibly comprehend it.
Thank you for understanding.
Well this “little Main” had a great laugh over your deflection (typical conservative response), and from your retort I can surmise that perhaps you may not have UNDERSTOOD my post . . . or, are just deflecting as I stated earlier. I may go with the former. Big words? hardly . . . Should I follow you down the same path by name calling? Or just let “little man” go? Lol! You are a mess . . .
I didn’t know i was name calling, it truly wasn’t my intention, and if i’ve hurt your feelings in any way or made you feel sad. For that i am truly apologetic. I’ve been called a name or two hundred in here in the past like being called a “racist”. So i know the hurt it can cause.
I know that name calling is beneath someone of your stature and intelligence.
I’m sorry.
Cute PF4L, little man has derogatory intent. Calling you a racist is simply a declaration of your actions and belief system. Nothing more, nothing less. Saying “fuck you” or something similar is ok, because it means nothing but dismissal. So with that I say fuck you! Have a nice day and thank YOU for understanding!
So angry……
MMTTDCSUCK
09/25/2017 at 9:43 pm
God are you a racist fuck! Fuck you, you fuck
PF4L
09/26/2017 at 4:04 am
Someone needs a hug.
PLEASE
09/28/2017 at 7:56 pm
MMTTDCSUCK
You do realize that you can’t debate. Your comebacks have no basis in reality just your feelings. Everyone should believe your takes because……who knows. Everyone is a rube or a racist who doesn’t agree with you. You live in the world of identity politics that has created the environment where someone like Trump could be elected. Try to be better.
All of this is a mere deflection for the denial of your racism. Which to this day, you have not denied. Identity politics? What a fucking laughable piece of right wing rhetoric! The only ones who “identify” are the whites (NOT ALL OF US) who have succumbed to fear mongering and profiling and believe that they are being attacked (all the while they are usually the ones attacking because of the aforementioned fear mongering whipping their knee-jerk reactions up to a fever pitch). Last time I looked, the people killing out of fear were all gomer white boys, who were all ramped up because of bullshit propaganda spewed by Fox News, Hannity and the NRA. Wake up! realize that you are being played like fools . . . then as usual, ignore it as you consistently do. Then have another sip of Kool-Aid. Crawl back to the couch and continue embracing the machine . . .
Someone needs a coke and a smile.
I don’t know why you insist on being so bitter and angry.
Go enjoy life, walk through the park and feed bread to the ducks, go to a fair and have some cotton candy. Take in a movie, catch a ball game. Maybe throw a barbecue for your neighbors. Let the kids walk through your yard and smile and wave to them.
R-E-L-A-X
There is outrage over kids dying, how naive are you!
To think that has anything to do with cops killing people is so ignorant! Are we paying crack and heroin dealers to sell drugs? No but we pay cops. We give them the right to do whatever they feel in that moment! Literally, whatever!! You have absolutely no right but to do what they say! At any moment they feel so!
Those “cops” that do this shit deserve to be tied up and left in an alley.
I don’t know everything, but i know a few things,
1) Yes, any cop that unlawfully causes the death of anyone deserves the full wrath of the law and its consequences.
2) Obeying Police officers commands greatly increases your chances of not being harmed, as they are paid to be the authority. which gives then the right to give you a command.
3) Not obeying Police officers invites conflict.
Choose wisely.
Lol. Freedom of speech doesn’t extend to the workplace. No matter how you stand on this issue
And there are several million fans who are unhappy with your insulting behavior. Stay in the locker room. Better yet follow college football and keep the teams in the locker room til it’s over.
Good post Gute.
I thought that exact same thing last season. But then it took me awhile to realize i didn’t think it was fair to the 98% of players who want to be out there for the Anthem, the ones who have honor and want to show respect.