Trump would rather rid NFL games of kneeling instead of COVID-19, Saints columnist says
I’m utterly confused, thoroughly frustrated, piping hot and can no longer mask my feelings.
President Donald Trump says he wants to reopen the country, get business back up and running, including the National Football League and all sports in general.
But there is a disclaimer when it comes to the NFL, which is determined to play games beginning next month amid the deadly pandemic COVID-19.
He’d rather the NFL stay shuttered this season if players insist on kneeling during the playing of the national anthem. Those aren’t my words, they come from the lips of the 45th president of the United States, in the land of the free and home of the brave whose citizens have the right to bear arms but apparently not the right to protest peacefully.
“If they don’t stand for the national anthem, I hope they don’t open,” Trump said, referring to NFL players. “You have to stand for your flag, and you have to stand for your flag and your country. You’re making millions of dollars a year playing a sport you’d be playing anyway; they’d be playing it on the weekends. And they have to respect their country. If they don’t, frankly, if the NFL didn’t open I’d be very happy. If they don’t stand for the flag and stand strongly, I’d be very happy if they didn’t open.’‘
I am not surprised by Trump’s recent rant. We know where he stands on the kneeling-during-anthem issue ever since taking currently unemployed NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to task for getting on bended knee while a member of the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. In fact, Trump has gone as far to say that those players who don’t stand for the flag during the anthem “shouldn’t be playing, maybe shouldn’t be in the country.’‘
Trump merely is double-downing on an all-too-familar position, mindful that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell already has given players league approval to kneel during the national anthem in protest against racism.
The NFL’s about-face by Goodell on the issue was made in support of the global-wide Black Lives Matter movement and in response to many players who urged the league to condemn racism and the systemic oppression of people of color.
“We were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest,” Goodell said in June.
It should be noted the NFL has not unveiled any formal plans for organized social justice demonstrations this season, though I suspect we will see vast numbers of players expressing support for BLM in some form whether it be kneeling during the anthem or otherwise.
We have seen other pro sports leagues (NHL, MLB, NBA) demonstrate in different ways during the resumption of their schedules with basketball drawing the most ire from Trump who calls players “very dumb (and) very nasty” for kneeling during the anthem and wearing jerseys that bear messages associated with BLM.
Trump said he will not watch NBA games broadcast from a “bubble’‘ in Florida, prompting LeBron James to say he doesn’t believe the pro basketball community will be “sad about losing Trump’s viewership.”
Goodell has decided not to engage Trump — a game the league cannot win and only exacerbates the issue — and instead will focus on making the game as safe as possible for players, coaches and essential personnel as they go about their billion-dollar business.
Unlike Trump, who seems more interested in seeing the NFL games being played protest free than COVID-19 free.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 12:57 PM.