There are a few famous people who have had some questions about the NFL response and the league’s policies on political statements after 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat down in protest of America during the pre-game National Anthem.
Kaepernick told NFL Media that he feels America is unfair to black people, a nod to the activist group “Black Lives Matter”:
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
He doubled-down later:
“When there’s significant change — and I feel like that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way it’s supposed to — I’ll stand.”
The NFL told NBC News that sitting on the bench during “The Star-Spangled Banner” was his choice:
“Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the National Anthem.”
The blowback for Kaepernick has been severe.
The New York Giants let the quarterback know what they thought of his move by standing, en masse, in formation. And now some other famous people are chiming in on the situation.
Actor and Twitter raconteur, James Woods, took a dim view of Kaepernick’s sit-down and had a hard question for the NFL:
Woods wrote:
“Kaepernick doesn’t stand for the national anthem, Rams players can walk onto the field with their hands up for the ‘hands up, don’t shoot,’ and other players can wear t-shirts saying, ‘I can’t breathe.’ But the Dallas Cowboys can’t put a sticker on their helmets for the 5 police officers who were killed. Way to go NFL…”
Radio host Rush Limbaugh devoted much of his Monday program to the issue, spending the first few minutes playing Ray Charles’s version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and explaining why Kaepernick’s excuse for sitting down showed a lack of respect:
“When you stop honoring heroes you will stop having heroes to honor and that’s where we are headed if you can’t get your heads straight.”
Limbaugh also wondered why the same NFL that green-lighted Kaepernick and said nothing when the St. Louis Rams used the apocryphal “hands up, don’t shoot” arm gesture to show solidarity with the activist group Black Lives Matter…
…and also said no to the Dallas Cowboys’ request to honor the five police officers who died while protecting Black Lives Matter protesters.
The five officers died at the hands of a racist sniper who expressed hatred for white cops.
The Cowboys asked the NFL to be able to put this sticker on the team helmet to show solidarity with the men who had fallen in their own city:
The NFL said no just three weeks ago.
The conflicting “decisions” have struck a nerve:
The Daily Mail reports that the NFL says uniforms are uniforms:
“Everyone has to be uniform with the league and the other 31 teams.
There are tons of things out there that need to be recognized. Once you open that Pandora’s box, how do you ever stop?”
But as Independent Journal Review reported, “Pandora’s box” has already been opened with red, white, and blue gloves; pink bandanas and socks; and all kinds of things that the NFL has chosen to allow.
The move rankled the Dallas Fallen Officer Foundation President, Demetrick Pennie, who told TMZ that they were “extremely upset” over the NFL’s decision:
“The NFL had an opportunity to be leaders and advocates for change in law enforcement These are our friends and our loved ones…it hurts to not have the NFL fully support us.”
The sniper attack was a national tragedy. All NFL teams could have worn the sticker and then they would have been ‘uniform.’
But instead, the personal crusade of Kaepernick in which he “feels” the United States as a whole is unfair, throwing his lot in with Black Lives Matter, is an allowable show of support by the NFL’s lights.
James Woods wasn’t having it and told the player not to bother standing anymore and thus “tarnish our flag”:
Conservative writer Ben Shapiro said that people have got to stop confusing their “feelings” about things with facts:
Former NFL player Burgess Owens told Kaepernick to “stop watching BET” and start getting some facts:
Retired general Ralph Peters was appalled — at the American education system that would produce this guy:
Others were in full support of the player. Charlie Sheen announced that he really is:
While this guy was…not so much:
Rush Limbaugh’s producer, “Bo Snerdley,” weighed in on a suggested boycott of Kaepernick’s sponsors:
Author and talk show host Larry Elder mocked Kaepernick’s effort to “lie about cops” alongside an A.F. Branco cartoon:
And this man also had civil rights on his mind with this tweet:
But this is perhaps the most prescient question of the day about the struggling quarterback:
As Jim Geraghty of National Review noted, Kaepernick’s sit-in is rich considering the half-black quarterback was once accused of calling an opposing player the “n” word.
The 49ers play the Dallas Cowboys on October 2nd in a regular season game. The contrast between teams should make for an interesting story line.
The post NFL Stops Cowboys from Supporting Cops While Kaepernick Gets a Pass on Protesting Flag appeared first on Independent Journal Review.
Source: Independent Journal Review
