I am angry.
I try not to write when I'm angry, even though I'm always in a bit of a state of rage. But in my calmer days is when I generally would rather write. But last Friday night, when the nation's current Commander in Chief continued his trek off the rails on the crazy train, I was quietly incensed.
I haven't been able to get Donald Trump's comments from his pep rally at Alabama out of my mind. As you've heard by now, Trump went on about how NFL owners should "get that son of a bitch off the field right now" when "somebody disrespects our flag." It set the tone for an angry weekend.
NFL players became madder than hell, as Trump re-invigorated a player movement that was essentially on life support. By Sunday, NFL viewers (and people like me who chose to only watch the anthem segments on Twitter) were catching glimpses of mass protests from hundreds of players from nearly every team in the league. There's a reason I emphasize 'nearly.'
Despite its ambitious intentions, there were some shortcomings from Sunday's protests from the players, coaches and especially from most NFL owners.
For instance, you don't get to call yourself protesting if all you're doing is locking arms with teammates during the playing of the national anthem. I'm looking at you, Chicago Bears. Who's going to bat an eye if you're standing, as you always do during the Star Spangled Banner, with locked arms in what can only be seen as a veiled show of unity and "togetherness?"
A look that, frankly, is akin to girls volleyball players holding hands and swinging arms during the bridge of the song.
That's not a protest.
That's compliance.
But I'm sure the McCaskeys and head coach John Fox are thrilled with how everything went. Trump called them out, and no matter how angry Danny Trevathan and other players reportedly were, in the end, the Bears displayed a lot more back down than fight.
In an effort to please many, you've pleased none.
But the Bears were certainly not the only team with a weak response. On the same field, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't even really protest at all. Coach Mike Tomlin said the team wouldn't be on the field for the anthem because "we're not gonna play politics with football players, with football coaches."
I'm sorry. What?! Play politics? That's what you think this is?
Since when did human rights and unjust police killings become a matter of politics?
Of course, it was later found out that it was the players that had decided to stay off the field for the anthem, albeit in a narrow majority. To make matters worse, Tomlin also said "if a guy feels the need to do something, he shouldn't be separated from his teammate who chooses not to," only to have offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva stand directly in front of his teammates outside of the tunnel, hand over heart, signing the anthem for all the cameras to see.
"We thought we were all in attention with the same agreement, obviously, " James Harrison told PennLive.com. "But, I guess we weren't."
Most teams, however, treated their players like the grown men they are and the ones that chose to actually protest with either a fist, a kneel or sit down, did just that.
Tale of two protests
The Seattle Seahawks and the Tennessee Titans both stayed in the locker room during the national anthem, but the tone from each team was expressly different. The Titans, through a team-provided statement, discussed "unity" and how much the joint players statement between the two teams was not meant to be disrespectful.
The Seahawks players, however, released their own statement that's got a lot more bite and gets straight to the point that many teams failed to express:
The Seahawks provided a clear and concise reasoning for their decision to skip the national anthem, while the Titans ownership did everything it could to politely excuse their players for their actions while going out of its way not to offend the military and not appear "unpatriotic."
Missing the WHY -- still
And that's what was missing most from many of the team statements given by, we assume, the NFL owners.
Nearly each one went on about supporting the players, their work within communities, unity, solidarity, awareness and whatever else sounds good to most readers. But never so much as touched the reasoning behind why players are kneeling and sitting in the first place. Why Colin Kaepernick sat, then knelt in the first place.
It infuriates me that the owners co-opted this movement to the point where, if you weren't actually paying attention, you'd forget the whole point. You know, besides just standing up to Troll Trump for calling players' mom's bitches.
SB Nation writer Zito Madu makes this point in a new article posted today:
People call this tactic "whitewashing" and it's been working. Several owners, or their PR staffer writing for them, made it a point to say how divisive the comments "The President" were. Of course most would agree with that sentiment, but beyond that, the rest of the commentary is essentially the same thing that can be said about players eligible for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
You absolutely can have "tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities" and be devoid of thought regarding police brutality and killings across the country. Not mentioning these statements, or mitigating racist police actions to "divisive political" talk is to rob the messenger of their message while smiling in their face.
So, about Kaepernick ...
It's been eight days since both NFL Hall of Famer and FS1 morning host Cris Carter and Shaun King of the Fair Punishment Project each talked to and tweeted that Kaepernick told them that he's ready to play. Finally, after all these months of wondering and having to hear from other sources, both King and Carter gathered a direct quote from Kaep that he's eager to play football. There should be no more questions about his commitment to football, should there?
Since that time, the very "distraction" angle everyone liked to cling to was put front and center by nearly every team in the league Sunday and very likely Monday night. Again, several hundred players either took a knee, took a seat, I guess you can add stretching to mix from LeSean McCoy, and team owners made statements (strongly or otherwise) regarding protests during the national anthem. The people who supposedly wrote letters to NY Giants co-owner John Mara had to defend his players Saturday from the divisive comments from "the president" before a handful were kneeling before the flag on Sunday.
The players have dealt with differing opinions about what to do in protest for over a year, and it all came to a head on Sunday. If nothing else, those same players were able to still link arms and play football, right?
And it's already been established from various sources that Kaepernick is capable of being on a roster. Hell, even Tom Brady said as much, calling Kaepernick "certainly qualified" and hopes the man "gets a shot."
So it shouldn't be difficult at all for the former San Francisco quarterback to receive offers from NFL teams for a roster spot, right? I mean for all that he's done starting these anthem protest to begin with, surely he should be in the running for a job in the league to continue on with this notion of "unity" and "solidarity," yes?
It's been eight days. I've yet to read a single tweet or article to suggest that there's been so much as a phone call made out to Kaepernick. Even after all this.
Aside from the Miami Dolphins sporting #IMWITHKAP gear during warmups Sunday, the NFL owners did an incredible job of letting the players do as they wished, supported their right to protest without acknowledging what the protest was ever about, and keeping out any conversation regarding the man who started the movement effectively.
Just as effective as their blacklisting of Kaepernick from the league.
And I'm angry about it all.
I try not to write when I'm angry, even though I'm always in a bit of a state of rage. But in my calmer days is when I generally would rather write. But last Friday night, when the nation's current Commander in Chief continued his trek off the rails on the crazy train, I was quietly incensed.
I haven't been able to get Donald Trump's comments from his pep rally at Alabama out of my mind. As you've heard by now, Trump went on about how NFL owners should "get that son of a bitch off the field right now" when "somebody disrespects our flag." It set the tone for an angry weekend.
NFL players became madder than hell, as Trump re-invigorated a player movement that was essentially on life support. By Sunday, NFL viewers (and people like me who chose to only watch the anthem segments on Twitter) were catching glimpses of mass protests from hundreds of players from nearly every team in the league. There's a reason I emphasize 'nearly.'
Despite its ambitious intentions, there were some shortcomings from Sunday's protests from the players, coaches and especially from most NFL owners.
For instance, you don't get to call yourself protesting if all you're doing is locking arms with teammates during the playing of the national anthem. I'm looking at you, Chicago Bears. Who's going to bat an eye if you're standing, as you always do during the Star Spangled Banner, with locked arms in what can only be seen as a veiled show of unity and "togetherness?"
A look that, frankly, is akin to girls volleyball players holding hands and swinging arms during the bridge of the song.
That's not a protest.
That's compliance.
But I'm sure the McCaskeys and head coach John Fox are thrilled with how everything went. Trump called them out, and no matter how angry Danny Trevathan and other players reportedly were, in the end, the Bears displayed a lot more back down than fight.
In an effort to please many, you've pleased none.
But the Bears were certainly not the only team with a weak response. On the same field, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't even really protest at all. Coach Mike Tomlin said the team wouldn't be on the field for the anthem because "we're not gonna play politics with football players, with football coaches."
I'm sorry. What?! Play politics? That's what you think this is?
Since when did human rights and unjust police killings become a matter of politics?
Of course, it was later found out that it was the players that had decided to stay off the field for the anthem, albeit in a narrow majority. To make matters worse, Tomlin also said "if a guy feels the need to do something, he shouldn't be separated from his teammate who chooses not to," only to have offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva stand directly in front of his teammates outside of the tunnel, hand over heart, signing the anthem for all the cameras to see.
"We thought we were all in attention with the same agreement, obviously, " James Harrison told PennLive.com. "But, I guess we weren't."
Most teams, however, treated their players like the grown men they are and the ones that chose to actually protest with either a fist, a kneel or sit down, did just that.
Tale of two protests
The Seattle Seahawks and the Tennessee Titans both stayed in the locker room during the national anthem, but the tone from each team was expressly different. The Titans, through a team-provided statement, discussed "unity" and how much the joint players statement between the two teams was not meant to be disrespectful.
The Seahawks players, however, released their own statement that's got a lot more bite and gets straight to the point that many teams failed to express:
As a team, we have decided we will not participate in the national anthem. We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country. Out of love for our country and in honor of the sacrifices made on our behalf, we unite to oppose those that would deny our most basic freedoms. We remain committed in continuing to work towards equality and justice for all. Respectfully, The Players of the Seattle SeahawksI guess when a teammate, Michael Bennett, has his own alleged police brutality encounter, that can change the tone and tenor of a protest.
The Seahawks provided a clear and concise reasoning for their decision to skip the national anthem, while the Titans ownership did everything it could to politely excuse their players for their actions while going out of its way not to offend the military and not appear "unpatriotic."
Missing the WHY -- still
And that's what was missing most from many of the team statements given by, we assume, the NFL owners.
Nearly each one went on about supporting the players, their work within communities, unity, solidarity, awareness and whatever else sounds good to most readers. But never so much as touched the reasoning behind why players are kneeling and sitting in the first place. Why Colin Kaepernick sat, then knelt in the first place.
It infuriates me that the owners co-opted this movement to the point where, if you weren't actually paying attention, you'd forget the whole point. You know, besides just standing up to Troll Trump for calling players' mom's bitches.
SB Nation writer Zito Madu makes this point in a new article posted today:
[I]t’s bemusing why it took Trump for this to happen. Or rather, this unity seems more about the league standing behind an empty word — unity — rather than standing behind the original reason for Kaepernick’s protest. The deep irony of this entire situation is all of this is happening while Kaepernick himself is unemployed, and owners who refused to give him a chance because of his protest, now stand, arms linked, in protest to Trump saying that protesters should be fired. It’s become a protest against Trump, rather than what it was intended to be.
People call this tactic "whitewashing" and it's been working. Several owners, or their PR staffer writing for them, made it a point to say how divisive the comments "The President" were. Of course most would agree with that sentiment, but beyond that, the rest of the commentary is essentially the same thing that can be said about players eligible for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
You absolutely can have "tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities" and be devoid of thought regarding police brutality and killings across the country. Not mentioning these statements, or mitigating racist police actions to "divisive political" talk is to rob the messenger of their message while smiling in their face.
So, about Kaepernick ...
It's been eight days since both NFL Hall of Famer and FS1 morning host Cris Carter and Shaun King of the Fair Punishment Project each talked to and tweeted that Kaepernick told them that he's ready to play. Finally, after all these months of wondering and having to hear from other sources, both King and Carter gathered a direct quote from Kaep that he's eager to play football. There should be no more questions about his commitment to football, should there?
Since that time, the very "distraction" angle everyone liked to cling to was put front and center by nearly every team in the league Sunday and very likely Monday night. Again, several hundred players either took a knee, took a seat, I guess you can add stretching to mix from LeSean McCoy, and team owners made statements (strongly or otherwise) regarding protests during the national anthem. The people who supposedly wrote letters to NY Giants co-owner John Mara had to defend his players Saturday from the divisive comments from "the president" before a handful were kneeling before the flag on Sunday.
The players have dealt with differing opinions about what to do in protest for over a year, and it all came to a head on Sunday. If nothing else, those same players were able to still link arms and play football, right?
And it's already been established from various sources that Kaepernick is capable of being on a roster. Hell, even Tom Brady said as much, calling Kaepernick "certainly qualified" and hopes the man "gets a shot."
So it shouldn't be difficult at all for the former San Francisco quarterback to receive offers from NFL teams for a roster spot, right? I mean for all that he's done starting these anthem protest to begin with, surely he should be in the running for a job in the league to continue on with this notion of "unity" and "solidarity," yes?
It's been eight days. I've yet to read a single tweet or article to suggest that there's been so much as a phone call made out to Kaepernick. Even after all this.
Aside from the Miami Dolphins sporting #IMWITHKAP gear during warmups Sunday, the NFL owners did an incredible job of letting the players do as they wished, supported their right to protest without acknowledging what the protest was ever about, and keeping out any conversation regarding the man who started the movement effectively.
Just as effective as their blacklisting of Kaepernick from the league.
And I'm angry about it all.
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