During the National Football League’s 2016 preseason, ex-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began the disrespectful trend of kneeling in protest during the playing of the national anthem.
That trend continued through the 2016 season and became a big issue in 2017, but the NFL owners may be putting a stop to the anti-American gesture ahead of the 2018 season.
According to Breitbart, NFL owners held an offseason meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday to discuss various potential rule changes and other issues prior to the start of the upcoming football season.
One proposal that was put forward was to have the home team of each game decide whether or not both teams would come out on the field to stand honorably for the national anthem or remain in the locker room until after the anthem was finished.
If it is decided that the teams will come out and stand for the anthem, and players from either squad decide to kneel or sit in protest, their respective team would be assessed a 15-yard penalty once the game began.
It is unclear at this point if that penalty would be assessed on the kickoff or at a later point, nor is it clear how such a penalty would be applied if players from both teams knelt in protest.
Needless to say, the liberal-leaning sports journalists and fans who have supported the player protests panned the idea as stupid, potentially unenforceable and unnecessary.
Left unmentioned was any sort of reaction from patriotic football fans who have been angered by and opposed to the gesture that many view as disrespectful to the flag, the nation and out nation’s veterans.
It is worth noting that the league’s lack of action against the protests in 2017 led to a widespread boycott among patriotic fans, as was evidenced by decreased attendance and viewership numbers.
Most fans simply want to watch a football game, and would rather not have social justice protests — no matter the bad or good intentions behind the purported cause — forced upon them.
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It is also worth pointing out that Kaepernick — who hasn’t played since the 2016 season — and former teammate Eric Reed, are unsigned free agents who’ve filed lawsuits against the NFL alleging “collusion” between team owners to leave them unsigned due to their history of leading the protests.
Unfortunately for them and the social justice warrior players who’ve joined them in taking a knee, it appears the NFL owners are done tolerating their disrespect that is driving off fans and intend to put a stop to it one way or another.