I Think I'm Done With The NFL After This!

[Younggun]

If the concessions are inside then there would be no saluting. Same in the military. If you are outside when the flag is raised/lowered you stop and salute. If you are indoors it's business as usual.

Unless the concessions are outdoors and inside the stadium area I don't know what being at the concessions has to do with anything.

 

[AustinN4]

If the concessions are inside then there would be no saluting. Same in the military. If you are outside when the flag is raised/lowered you stop and salute. If you are indoors it's business as usual.

And you do not take your cover off.

 

[Younggun]

It took me a while to adjust from military standards to civilian. Never knew if I should cover my heart or salute.

I tend to go hand over heart in order to blend in.

 

[AustinN4]

I tend to go hand over heart in order to blend in.

Believe it is Ok for a vet to salute, even in civies, but I could be wrong. But, yeah, I get what you say about blending in.

 

[easy rider]

The reasons behind the protest are BS but I also take issue with disrespecting the flag/anthem part of it. If you want to say taking a knee or not coming out for the anthem is disrespectful that's fine, but I also have seen plenty of fans not showing their own definition of "proper respect". Fans were talking, wearing hats, sitting, and buying concessions before the protest started, and continue to do so now. Its hypocritical.

Nobody goes to the football game to watch the fans, and unless he's your buddy or something you don't know them from Adam. I agree that proper respect should be shown to the flag, but at a football game it's the players that are the example.

 

[oldag]

You're arguing liberals are racists? That's as stupid as the MSM calling Trump voters and conservatives racists.

On the whole, liberals are practicing racism. Certainly their leaders and mouthpieces.

You may think it is stupid to accuse liberals of racism, but that does not mean it is not true.

 

[easy rider]

On the whole, liberals are practicing racism. Certainly their leaders and mouthpieces.

You may think it is stupid to accuse liberals of racism, but that does not mean it is not true.

It's been my experience that racism doesn't have color, ethnicity, politics, religion or sex. It can be found in all.

 

[Keyston512]

Nobody goes to the football game to watch the fans, and unless he's your buddy or something you don't know them from Adam. I agree that proper respect should be shown to the flag, but at a football game it's the players that are the example.

That's understandable. I don't see the disconnect were players should be responsible for respecting the flag but regular joe is free to do whatever. If the flag/anthem is deserving of respect and its that important players need to stand, why is that standard not universal for everyone? Its a genuine question, I'm not trying to be argumentative.

I don't agree with their protest, but I respect their right to do so.

 

[JeepFiend]

Seems to me that is the standard for everyone. The fans however, have a right to their freedom of expression that the players do not. The players are being paid to be there. They are at work. They are representing the team and the NFL which are being subsidized by U.S. and local taxpayers. U.S. taxpayers are not paying the fans to be there. When you're at work, many of your individual rights are negated in the interest of the organization and it's supporters.

Nobody is saying they don't have a right to free speech, just that they don't have a right to speech free of consequences. Again, nobody is saying lock them up...they're just saying, fire the SOB's or lose my contribution and pull all federal and local funding from stadiums and tax exemptions for the NFL.

 

[RACER X]

Its in their contracts that they stand at attention during the services


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[diesel1959]

You're arguing liberals are racists? That's as stupid as the MSM calling Trump voters and conservatives racists.

Quotas are racist and are not a product of conservatives, my friend. Just saying. Identity politics is the pablum of the left.

 

[Keyston512]

Seems to me that is the standard for everyone. The fans however, have a right to their freedom of expression that the players do not. The players are being paid to be there. They are at work. They are representing the team and the NFL which are being subsidized by U.S. and local taxpayers. U.S. taxpayers are not paying the fans to be there. When you're at work, many of your individual rights are negated in the interest of the organization and it's supporters.

Nobody is saying they don't have a right to free speech, just that they don't have a right to speech free of consequences. Again, nobody is saying lock them up...they're just saying, fire the SOB's or lose my contribution and pull all federal and local funding from stadiums and tax exemptions for the NFL.

Seems to me that is the standard for everyone. The fans however, have a right to their freedom of expression that the players do not. The players are being paid to be there. They are at work. They are representing the team and the NFL which are being subsidized by U.S. and local taxpayers. U.S. taxpayers are not paying the fans to be there. When you're at work, many of your individual rights are negated in the interest of the organization and it's supporters.

Nobody is saying they don't have a right to free speech, just that they don't have a right to speech free of consequences. Again, nobody is saying lock them up...they're just saying, fire the SOB's or lose my contribution and pull all federal and local funding from stadiums and tax exemptions for the NFL.

I don't have a problem with the consequences or fans having the right to feel/respond in the way that they do. If its required by the NFL, then yeah, protest at your own risk. I think it has become more about what the kneeling symbolizes, versus not showing the proper respect. Kneeling is the easier target.

 

[zincwarrior]

I heard about some high school teams that took a knee Friday night too.

At my age, if I take a knee, I would need help to get back up. I have taken penalties to avoid taking a knee on some stages when the old knees were acting up.

Can I take a bourbon on the rocks instead?

I also have a solution to this: swap out playing the anthem, for a tape of Ray Charles singing "America."Not only will everyone stand, everyone will be in tears.

 

[Vaquero]

Got this in an email.

"
You graduated from high school in 2011. Your teenage years were a struggle. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate. Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best. The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football. Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football. Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonalds for minimum wage. You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best. They laid out the red carpet for you. Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s. College was not an option for him. On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter. You went to summer workouts. He went to basic training.



You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans. Tutors attended to your every academic need. You attended class when you felt like it. Sure, you worked hard. You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country. Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice. He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19 year old soldiers who grew up just like he did. He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young American's give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the USA.



You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts. You hired an agent and waited for draft day. You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible. You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football. Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year.



You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach. He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers. You will sleep at the Ritz. He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep. You will “make it rain” in the club. He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees.



On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name. For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday and any other day of the week. There are no adoring fans. There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest. He might be lucky enough to catch an NFL game on TV. When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television. While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country.



To the players of the NFL: We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys. We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism. Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us. You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you. We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth. We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right.



But now you have gone too far. You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans. You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country. I am done with NFL football and encourage all likeminded Americans to boycott the NFL as well. On Veterans Day this year, that's exactly what I plan to do.
"

 

[avvidclif]

Amen. But I'm not waiting for Veterans Day

 

[easy rider]

Got this in an email.

"
You graduated from high school in 2011. Your teenage years were a struggle. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate. Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best. The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football. Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football. Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonalds for minimum wage. You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best. They laid out the red carpet for you. Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s. College was not an option for him. On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter. You went to summer workouts. He went to basic training.



You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans. Tutors attended to your every academic need. You attended class when you felt like it. Sure, you worked hard. You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country. Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice. He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19 year old soldiers who grew up just like he did. He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young American's give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the USA.



You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts. You hired an agent and waited for draft day. You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible. You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football. Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year.



You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach. He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers. You will sleep at the Ritz. He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep. You will “make it rain” in the club. He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees.



On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name. For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday and any other day of the week. There are no adoring fans. There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest. He might be lucky enough to catch an NFL game on TV. When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television. While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country.



To the players of the NFL: We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys. We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism. Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us. You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you. We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth. We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right.



But now you have gone too far. You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans. You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country. I am done with NFL football and encourage all likeminded Americans to boycott the NFL as well. On Veterans Day this year, that's exactly what I plan to do.
"

Exactly, but then I didn't wait for Veterans Day, for it's not football I will be thinking of that day.

 

[JeepFiend]

I don't have a problem with the consequences or fans having the right to feel/respond in the way that they do. If its required by the NFL, then yeah, protest at your own risk. I think it has become more about what the kneeling symbolizes, versus not showing the proper respect. Kneeling is the easier target.

I guess I disagree with that. I don't think the symbolism of the kneeling is really what's in question here. I don't think anyone really knows or cares at this point. I think what's upsetting people is the timing of a protest, whether that protest is taking a knee, interlocking arms, staying in a locker room, or holding up a fist in support of black power. It's 3 minutes that everyone should be quiet, attentive, and respectful. Protesting a flag or the nation it represents during an anthem is just a disrespectful act. And people try to justify that it isn't about disrespect for the flag, but that's exactly what Kaepernick said it was when he started it.

 

[easy rider]

I guess I disagree with that. I don't think the symbolism of the kneeling is really what's in question here. I don't think anyone really knows or cares at this point. I think what's upsetting people is the timing of a protest, whether that protest is taking a knee, interlocking arms, staying in a locker room, or holding up a fist in support of black power. It's 3 minutes that everyone should be quiet, attentive, and respectful. Protesting a flag or the nation it represents during an anthem is just a disrespectful act. And people try to justify that it isn't about disrespect for the flag, but that's exactly what Kaepernick said it was when he started it.

Exactly!

 

[Keyston512]

I guess I disagree with that. I don't think the symbolism of the kneeling is really what's in question here. I don't think anyone really knows or cares at this point. I think what's upsetting people is the timing of a protest, whether that protest is taking a knee, interlocking arms, staying in a locker room, or holding up a fist in support of black power. It's 3 minutes that everyone should be quiet, attentive, and respectful. Protesting a flag or the nation it represents during an anthem is just a disrespectful act. And people try to justify that it isn't about disrespect for the flag, but that's exactly what Kaepernick said it was when he started it.

I think that's a fair point. Part of my argument earlier was that players are expected to adhere to respecting those three minutes, regardless if its required by the NFL or not, but not the fans. I don't agree there should be a disconnect between the two groups b/c its something we all should do.

Your going to a game for entertainment, last thing most people want to deal with is SJW or BLM fuckery.

 

[busykngt]

Believe it is Ok for a vet to salute, even in civies, but I could be wrong. But, yeah, I get what you say about blending in.

https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1609

Veterans in civilian attire are permitted to salute since 2008 (nine years now). Up until VERY recently, I too, just did the hand over the heart thing to also “blend in”. (But mostly, because during & after my time in service, the public didn’t look upon a military uniform very favorably). Now, I’ve simply gotten too damned old to give a rat’s ass - I’ve taken to saluting in the last couple of years.