'Spectators... cheered bone-crunching hits'. More likely they cheered brain-mushing blows.
I hope the upshot of this will be that we stop playing the national anthem at sporting events. What does patriotism have to do with sports?
1
The NFL and military ARE linked in one way: They have no problems sending mostly poor and working class young men to fight the battles of a select few very wealthy, be they NFL owners, or white haired congressmen or senators. The result is the same: young men getting killed, injured or permanently maimed.
The only difference is compensation and benefits, yet what difference is it if your brain is discombobulated and you can't produce a coherent thought.
It would be great if we could never have wars, on the battlefield or gridiron.
The only difference is compensation and benefits, yet what difference is it if your brain is discombobulated and you can't produce a coherent thought.
It would be great if we could never have wars, on the battlefield or gridiron.
2
'As a true American, I will not watch' a brutal, barbaric professional spectator 'sport' that we are well aware will inevitably result in debilitating brain damage for a goodly number of the participants. I could care less whether those who play this self-destructive game for the amusement of others choose to sit, stand, stand on their heads or kneel and pray while the national anthem is played. I do find it objectionable that the anthem is used to legitimize this cynical and highly profitable spectacle and to cloak the unnecessary carnage in 'patriotism.'
We could go some distance towards 'making America great again' if we would refuse to feed the multibillion dollar football machine and stop using our secondary schools and universities as training grounds for the toxic industrial complex that is the NFL.
We could go some distance towards 'making America great again' if we would refuse to feed the multibillion dollar football machine and stop using our secondary schools and universities as training grounds for the toxic industrial complex that is the NFL.
2
Lewis Sternberg's comments pretty much sum up the so-called football issue. It continues to amaze why anyone would continue to attend or watch NFL games on TV. In a rational world, thinking people would ignore, boycott the NFL circus. What the primitive primate (players) do to attract attention is to be expected. Their primitive subculture deserves no attention, should not be acknowledged, or recognized. Hopefully, this sordid industry will wither, cease to exist..
1
I question why this article appears in the 'sports' section of the Times rather then 'business.' Not since the '50s has football been a sport. It's the business of multi-millionaires wrapping their industry in whatever colours they feel will sell it for the most money to the largest number of gullible people. The saddest commentary is that so many millions of Americans (and billions of dollars) actually fall for their scam.
2
Pity and shameful that the U.S. doesn't have the same regard for your paralympics. Not a mention anywhere, do you people even know it's on right now in Rio?
Your medal haul is atrocious and clearly shows your lack on investment in your disabled citizens.
Well done Britain, China, Ukraine and all the others that do care.
Your medal haul is atrocious and clearly shows your lack on investment in your disabled citizens.
Well done Britain, China, Ukraine and all the others that do care.
4
I'm all for 'unity,' but what does it mean? Are the Seahawks supporting
continued institutionalized racism or are they protesting it? You can't do
both.
continued institutionalized racism or are they protesting it? You can't do
both.
1
As a true American, I did not and will not watch any NFL games until they make it mandatory to respect the country that allows all those overblown people make so much money. I'm sure the viewing audience is much smaller than last year and they best wake up or see them and their game dwindle into meaningless twitter.
I've said this before and I'll say it again: as a retired servicemember I don't believe the national anthem is about me or any member of the military present, past or future; I don't care what you think of my service and don't want your thanks; I think much of what passes for gratitude and patriotism is because people failed to serve in the military and wouldn't ever let their kids do so; I do want Congress to fully fund the VA and the DOD for things that make a difference for the troops; I find the fact that DOD paid the NFL for fake patriotism to be disgusting and have no belief that the NFL or its players are more patriotic than the average weekend kickball player; I do appreciate Kaepernick and his fellow players shedding light on false patriots (you know, those people that only support your rights when they look like their rights) and exercising his rights that I actually did protect.
Another blockbuster revelation: I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I'm proud of my service or that I did it for patriotism, the American way of life, or apple pie. I did it because I came from a military family and that's what we did, and after I got in I pretty much loved it. Anything I did that "protected" America and "ensured the freedoms and liberties we all love" was coincidental. I make a helluva lot more now than when I was in, but I will never love another job the way I loved the military.
If you want to be patriotic, go help at a homeless shelter or food kitchen.
Another blockbuster revelation: I'm not going to lie to you and tell you I'm proud of my service or that I did it for patriotism, the American way of life, or apple pie. I did it because I came from a military family and that's what we did, and after I got in I pretty much loved it. Anything I did that "protected" America and "ensured the freedoms and liberties we all love" was coincidental. I make a helluva lot more now than when I was in, but I will never love another job the way I loved the military.
If you want to be patriotic, go help at a homeless shelter or food kitchen.
20
Once again on Sunday I got to see my 9/11 experience revered and remembered by thousands of people with a beer in one hand and a free mini-flag in the other. Then they sat for the next three hours watching young men smash each other into brain damage and broken bodies all for the benefit of 32 billionaires. I can't imagine a more American way of thanking those of us who braved fire, smoke, debris, and lingering fear and depression not by choice but by circumstance. I guess you couldn't take off your hat for the tribute because you were holding the beer?
5
I attended a Jets game in 2013 and stood for the American anthem because it is the decent thing to do. You may disagree with the nations policies, but respecting the national anthem is as fundamental as shaking someone's hand. I being from India, had not heard the star-spangled banner a lot of times. It was quite moving to see so many people who had been chatting or fiddling with their phones stand in attention respectfully. In my opinion, disrespecting any countries' national anthem is like spitting on someone and there is no respectful way of spitting.
3
Professional sports, in general make me ill. This I find appalling.
I don't doubt Colin Kaepernick’s sincerity or question his right to express his opinion. I do, however, wonder about his understanding of the situation he is protesting. The violence and discrimination that minorities suffer are largely due to state and local laws and attitudes, not national ones. The federal government, which the flag and national anthem represent, is doing what it can, within constitutional limits, to restrain state and local bigotry. Protesting the wrong target is not going ot solve anything.
2
I dislike posturing and I particularly abhor the modern trend to setting oneself up as a martyr, noble and long suffering and misunderstood. The NFL "protest" trend? Phony phony phony. There are many avenues for these people to contribute to improving situations. Making a spectacle of themselves by sitting during the anthem or making a raised fist is just another "look at how special I am" ploy.
2
It's so telling that somehow, 9/11 and our military are linked. Wha did the military have to do with that attack? Police? Yes! Firefighters? Double yes!! Volunteers? You bet... But it is extremely troubling that any feeling about this country is automatically assumed to be military in nature.
2
The NFL sucks up to the military for a very simple reason: money money money money money. Why alienate a customer base with a steady stream of income like military people? After all, they might wanna spend some of that money on the newest coolest player's overpriced jersey. Duh.
3
I'm not sure that is it. Military people don't make a lot of money. I remember.
In the interest of full disclosure.
2 Combat tours - Vietnam 1972 - 75 - also I am current enrolled (happily, I might add) within the VA health care system. My father - A WWII Marine Corps veteran, currently 89 years young, is also a recipient of VA services.
I am sick and tired of seeing huge corporate conglomerates, politicians, and a wide raft of commercial interests who use Veterans as stepping stones to increase their bottom line, or curry favor with an unknowing, gullible public.
Year after year I see "non-Vets" vote down increases to the VA health system or cut funding to sections of the active military that have been put in place to provide services to active and former military personnel.
Where are all of these fine individuals, the ones who "support our troops" when our combat veterans come home? They give lip service and nothing else. If you really want to "support our troops," then why not get involved? The VA is always looking for volunteers. Not to mention the wide number of 501C3 organizations who are working actively to support and assist the nations veterans. When was the last time that you wrote your congressional representative asking for them to support Veterans issues?
As a combat veteran, I must ask. Do not tell me "thank you for your service." Instead say, "I am a volunteer at (fill in the blank) veteran organization.
Anything else is mental pablum and I would appreciate either your support or that you honestly tell me, that you don't care.
2 Combat tours - Vietnam 1972 - 75 - also I am current enrolled (happily, I might add) within the VA health care system. My father - A WWII Marine Corps veteran, currently 89 years young, is also a recipient of VA services.
I am sick and tired of seeing huge corporate conglomerates, politicians, and a wide raft of commercial interests who use Veterans as stepping stones to increase their bottom line, or curry favor with an unknowing, gullible public.
Year after year I see "non-Vets" vote down increases to the VA health system or cut funding to sections of the active military that have been put in place to provide services to active and former military personnel.
Where are all of these fine individuals, the ones who "support our troops" when our combat veterans come home? They give lip service and nothing else. If you really want to "support our troops," then why not get involved? The VA is always looking for volunteers. Not to mention the wide number of 501C3 organizations who are working actively to support and assist the nations veterans. When was the last time that you wrote your congressional representative asking for them to support Veterans issues?
As a combat veteran, I must ask. Do not tell me "thank you for your service." Instead say, "I am a volunteer at (fill in the blank) veteran organization.
Anything else is mental pablum and I would appreciate either your support or that you honestly tell me, that you don't care.
34
Instead of peacefully registering their concerns, perhaps these black players should overturn some police cars and burn some buildings. Would White America be OK with that? As usual, the hypocrisy of White America is breathtaking.
4
Milked for every dollar.
The NFL does not pay for nor reimburse the military for the fly overs or the military personnel who appear on the field. They wrap themselves in the flag and skip to the bank with glee when a player amends his uniform with anything that they don't sanction. We pay for the rich boys club to injure our young men and charge the taxpayer for military presence and the right to build a stadium wherever and however they want. Where's the patriotism in all that? It's all such a waste of time.
3
though a veteran who served proudly, not a fan of anthems and flags as sanctions for any kind of effort, on the field, in the classroom, etc.
however, the knee bends and butt parking that goes on at public events raises an issue heretofore overlooked, not about the kneelers who have the rights but about the saluters who are, in thier noncompliance with the protest, being cast as condoners, enablers, endorsers of the ills they oppose... QB K and his growing cadre have essentially disrupted an event and the crowds gathered to pay their pre-game respects to the nation for which the flag stands, but, in doing so, they seem less than eager to accept the responsibility of their party-crash to engage, if you will, past some tired same-old sloganeering...
man/woman up y'all, and talk to your hosts..."sitting out" is what miles davis said you do if you haven't got the courage to play strong.
however, the knee bends and butt parking that goes on at public events raises an issue heretofore overlooked, not about the kneelers who have the rights but about the saluters who are, in thier noncompliance with the protest, being cast as condoners, enablers, endorsers of the ills they oppose... QB K and his growing cadre have essentially disrupted an event and the crowds gathered to pay their pre-game respects to the nation for which the flag stands, but, in doing so, they seem less than eager to accept the responsibility of their party-crash to engage, if you will, past some tired same-old sloganeering...
man/woman up y'all, and talk to your hosts..."sitting out" is what miles davis said you do if you haven't got the courage to play strong.
2
As a Humanist, I have chafed in recent years every time 'God Bless America' was played during the 7th-inning stretch at Yankee Stadium. I kept my seat and maintained "a silent but reproachful presence". I cannot ask the "one true god of the one true faith" to favor my country above all other peoples.
Some argue that it is only respectful to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, our National Anthem or whatever ceremony someone has decided is appropriate to honor our veterans or the victims of 9/11. How is it that many Memorial and Veterans Days ceremonies turn into religious services?
I, personally, as a patriot, have never had a problem with the original Pledge, simply omitting the added words 'under God'. I love to sing The Star-Spangled Banner! (Remember when everybody sang?) But I realize now what a slippery slope we travel when attempting to compel obedience to patriotism and piety.
It is time to make all such displays voluntary or eliminate them all together, especially as indoctrination in the schools. There are many of us who still have a sense of community and are respectful of the beliefs of others. But public displays of affection for a god or country really have nothing to do anymore with the business at hand.
Chevy
South Hadley, MA
Some argue that it is only respectful to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, our National Anthem or whatever ceremony someone has decided is appropriate to honor our veterans or the victims of 9/11. How is it that many Memorial and Veterans Days ceremonies turn into religious services?
I, personally, as a patriot, have never had a problem with the original Pledge, simply omitting the added words 'under God'. I love to sing The Star-Spangled Banner! (Remember when everybody sang?) But I realize now what a slippery slope we travel when attempting to compel obedience to patriotism and piety.
It is time to make all such displays voluntary or eliminate them all together, especially as indoctrination in the schools. There are many of us who still have a sense of community and are respectful of the beliefs of others. But public displays of affection for a god or country really have nothing to do anymore with the business at hand.
Chevy
South Hadley, MA
27
These are the same type of shills that insist on being separate from American culture and complaining about it. Have they done anything MATERIAL to change ghetto culture where many of them originated? Have they done anything MATERIAL to see that positive cultural change can come about in predominantly poor neighborhoods? Have they done anything to curb gun culture in the poor neighborhoods where they originated? How many of them helped build New Orleans. Brad Pitt was there building houses and so was Harry Connick, Jr. Do these knee benders EVER provide anything material to American cultural development beyond running their months in mostly unacceptable English, despite-- as they claim-- college educations? And we all know we're not talking about the exceptions as they are there--and most of them do 'get it.'
I'm tired of this baloney--and it is baloney--about how blacks are downtrodden by the rest of us. There are legitimate claims about police brutality, procedure and over-reaction inconsistent with Constitutional ideals and a free society, but it isn't isolated to one race. And it isn't wrong to point out the level of aggression in black communities, too. (Now, really, burning down your town like in Ferguson is going to help? And that is generally only the black response doing that type of thing.)
And shame on the press for not emphasizing the approach the Ravens and at least all but one K.C. Chief took rather than the spoiled big mouth millionaires. mou
I'm tired of this baloney--and it is baloney--about how blacks are downtrodden by the rest of us. There are legitimate claims about police brutality, procedure and over-reaction inconsistent with Constitutional ideals and a free society, but it isn't isolated to one race. And it isn't wrong to point out the level of aggression in black communities, too. (Now, really, burning down your town like in Ferguson is going to help? And that is generally only the black response doing that type of thing.)
And shame on the press for not emphasizing the approach the Ravens and at least all but one K.C. Chief took rather than the spoiled big mouth millionaires. mou
10
Kaepernick is donating $1 million this year to organizations helping inner-city communities.
1
I am so embarrassed by this display of commercialized pretty jingoism. Nationalism is the greatest threat to security for the next century and the NFL promotes fear, stupidity, and violence in the same way as a Putin or Trump.
31
If I were black, I would be protesting the song that has a stanza with slaves mentioned in it.
5
That refers back to the British, Americans enslaved by British rule. They had just burned the white house, what, a week before? Two weeks?
You can protest it even if you aren't black.
3
Regarding the song, no, I don't think you have that right. Take a look:
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 wash’d out their foul footstep’s 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.
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 wash’d out their foul footstep’s 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.
NFL is out of control…. high priced spoiled children that never had to deal with the day to day struggles of the real world. Player (drug) suspensions, hold outs, killer, and now this! What do they hope to accomplish? Other than a timely donation & photo ops, have you ever seen them helping poor communities?
I have 4 season tickets-this is my last year guaranteed…there are forms of entertainment.
I have 4 season tickets-this is my last year guaranteed…there are forms of entertainment.
7
Overpaid #NFL players taking a knee on #September11 is disgusting. I don't care what color u r. For 1 day, they should respect those who were murdered. #NFLBoycott
12
Just wondering how much the NFL charged us for all of the patriotic displays? Did they buy the little flags, or did they charge the city a "per unit" distribution fee? Players kneeling or raising a fist doesn't cost the taxpayers a dime. How much did "unfurling the big flag" cost us? The NFL (and all of the pro leagues) have misplaced priorities when two words on a shoe are more important than player head injuries and social injustice.
13
I support Kaepernick's right to not stand for the National Anthem and even to make the statement that he doesn't have pride in our country “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." And I retain my right to state I see his open lack of pride despicable. It was great yesterday, on 9/11, to witness the overwhelming majority of Americans at stadiums around the country showing respect and pride in our great nation.
7
The football players who don't wish to stand may sit.
The people who hire them may stop employing them.
Both are within their rights.
The people who hire them may stop employing them.
Both are within their rights.
14
I agree, and take it one step farther. I like Tortorella's statement that any of his players who want to sit during the anthem can also sit during the game. Would that more coaches in various sports had the guts to make that stick.
11
I am sick of warrior mentality. It fuels itself as each side condemns the other in a vicious cycle of blame. The words on the guys shoes at the end of the article say it all: "Never forget." It's true that those who forget are condemned to repeat history. It's also true that those who never forget are condemned to repeat history.
8
I'm busy not watching pro football this year. Amazing what you can get done on Sunday afternoon when you're not watching commercials, replays, and useless commentaries mixed in with some live play.
I recognize the flag is just a symbol but it is an important one. The NFL chooses not to make standing for the anthem mandatory for its members, employees, private contractors or whatever the players actually are.
I'll continue to watch college ball until those players decide to sit.
I recognize the flag is just a symbol but it is an important one. The NFL chooses not to make standing for the anthem mandatory for its members, employees, private contractors or whatever the players actually are.
I'll continue to watch college ball until those players decide to sit.
6
It's about showing respect to your country, basic , common respect.
If you don't get that, maybe you should get out.
If you don't get that, maybe you should get out.
11
It's about freedom of choice. If you don't get that, you should get out.
2
I think Kaepernick and others *are* showing respect for their country and its founding principles. Compared to that, reflexively standing for the anthem is trivial, done for the sake of conformity only.
3
Yes it's about paying respect to a country that gave us the First Amendment right to speak (or not) in accordance with out consciences. We have the freedom to go along with the crowd or to express our freedom in our own way.
Just for the record, I'm a 70-year-old white woman who wholly approves of the First Amendment.
Just for the record, I'm a 70-year-old white woman who wholly approves of the First Amendment.
1
None of this is new. Fighter jets flew over the Super Bowl during the Gulf War; anthems have been sung before games since WWII; the military runs countless ads on TV during games; not to mention the strident patriotism of a high school pep rally and the Army-Navy game. Football is a locus of aggressive nationalism in our midst.
6
Let the protesters donate 90% of their salaries to elevate inner city schools. That would be a more effective means of affecting change.
8
Not one mention of how the great NFL took money in the past from the US government for all this patriotism? Really?
16
Not since the 1936 Olympics in Berlin Nazi Germany has the confluence of sports, nationalism, propaganda, bigotry and money been on such dark disturbing display than in the NFL today. In Nazi Germany white Aryan supremacy met American Jim Crow white supremacy. There are more German Americans than there are any kind of Americans.
The NFL has 70% black African American players. But there are no black African American NFL owners. No black African American has ever been NFL Commissioner. What Americans call soccer the rest of the world recognizes as football.
Francis Scott Key was a white supremacist slave owner who was upset that the African American slaves given their freedom by the British were in action in Baltimore. Herbert Hoover made his martial war poem converted to song the National Anthem in 1931.
Some modest proposals for resolving this dispute are as follows: Stop singing the National Anthem at sporting events; Get a new inclusive positive peaceful secular anthem; Sing the two team theme songs at sporting events; Stand and sing or sit and kneel in silence while the National Anthem is sung.
The NFL has 70% black African American players. But there are no black African American NFL owners. No black African American has ever been NFL Commissioner. What Americans call soccer the rest of the world recognizes as football.
Francis Scott Key was a white supremacist slave owner who was upset that the African American slaves given their freedom by the British were in action in Baltimore. Herbert Hoover made his martial war poem converted to song the National Anthem in 1931.
Some modest proposals for resolving this dispute are as follows: Stop singing the National Anthem at sporting events; Get a new inclusive positive peaceful secular anthem; Sing the two team theme songs at sporting events; Stand and sing or sit and kneel in silence while the National Anthem is sung.
17
The folks got riled up at the wearing of the flag during the Vietmam war and now folks wear clothing fashioned in red, white and blue. Patriotism should not get confused with the cultural relativity at the time. People who chastise ideologues from other cultures and religions in what they define as patriotic should stop the hypocracy. Being patriotic has nothing to do with putting your hand over your heart at the national anthem or rising for it. Remember when people not supporting the War in Iraq were called unpatriotic?
16
Went to a soccer game in Barcelona . There were no fly overs by stealth bombers , rumbling tanks , three hundred foot flags , soldiers marching on the field or people dressed as if it was 1776 . No politician was in sight nor were any introduced to the crowd . It was just a soccer game . It was refreshing not to be reminded of invasions , death and destruction !
31
Actually, Barcelona FC fancies itself as more than a soccer club. It is very much a symbol of Catalan pride and explains their fractious rivalry with Real Madrid, the soccer club of the Spanish establishment. And prominent former Barcelona players have supported Catalan independence. There may be no fighter Jets at the Camp Nou stadium, but there is plenty of politics nevertheless
Spain isn't exactly an example of what we should emulate.
Goodell and the NFL owners, led by the execrable Kroenke, perfectly personify the American values of unbridled greed and devotion to nothing but money. The NFL shield should be festooned with dollar signs.
11
Football is fun and exciting to watch but ask yourself this, 'what does it have to do with American Democracy?"
32
Even though we are on opposing teams and rooting against one another. For 3 minutes before the game we take a moment to realize that we are all one and part of something that is bigger than ourselves.
2