I'm personally not opposed to players protesting. Just not on the field.

The point that you made in the title, that is.

Players are employees. There are official NFL rules on how they are to conduct themselves on the field, to include during the National Anthem. If they want to protest, then they get fined. Fines grow exponentially with subsequent violations. Teams can get fined as well.

You're not really "protesting" or being "heroic" if there are no consequences or if you don't have any skin in the game.

Otherwise, just do your job and then go out and protest. These guys are multimillionaires and only work 6 months out of the year, the should be able to do something more substantial than f**k up something that represents a lot to people who have served their country.

"they should"

I have no problem with peaceful protest on their own time. But on the field means they are taking advantage of the fans, who for the most part, aren't interested in player's politics; they just want to be entertained. They are also using their employer's time and resources, presumably without their consent (at least prior to this week). Players have a lot of free time to promote whatever agendas they may have, and their celebrity opens doors for them that you and I don't have available to us. I go to a lot of rock concerts and always get annoyed when an entertainer takes advantage of the paying public to spout off whatever their political leanings are. Again, I pay to be entertained, not persuaded about someone else's politics.

Agreed

Employers have the authority to regulate their employees' speech. It's the law. It's funny most people don't realize this, but yet they live it out on a daily basis at their jobs all over the country. Great meme! upvoted!

Agreed!

How do you feel about government workers refusing to marry gays? They are on the job. But their protest is welcomed. Hmmmmm.

This is what they don't get. They are entertainers. People spend a lot of money and time to watch a game, not a protest.

:)

Ever see a celebrity kneeling during the opening credits?

So that example hardly applies...

lol :D

You're right. We're desensitized to the rules and regulations at our work place. We know we can't drink and do drugs on property, when we can smoke, where we can smoke, and so on. And we expect there to be rules at our work place. Just like NFL players have their own that they're expected to live up to. Ultimately, the fans are the customers and you have to keep them happy or ticket sales drop.

Official NFL ratings are down a mere 11%. Enough to cause the NFL some pain, the networks some pain, but it won't change a damn thing.

So, congratulations! You have the country you wanted. There simply is no one else to blame here save for the average American (non) voter.

College Football is still good..... I guess.

Yyyyyyeah no they didnt

Well, if the president supreme had his way...

Not trolling or trying to talk "smack" - but this meme reminded me of a favorite Rev. MLK Jr. quote...

David Meggessy pioneered such protest during the pre-game (paid for) celebration of Nationalistic pride and Militarism... And it led directly, to the players having a legit union (one reason why the NFL was unlikely to act against Kaepernick and Co.) - which I hope we can agree that they deserved.

Also -realize that a good portion of the NFL's audience (and not just their players) are Black - and so, feel perhaps even more strongly about the protests - than those who are inconvenienced by knowing of about their feelings.

When Meggessy did it - it was a DIRECT PROTEST against the Vietnam and our military involvement there - so to the perspective of those who took Kaep's protest as a slap at the military - theoretically EVEN MORE offensive.

While looking for the quote I wanted I found a site with several other good nuggets of MLK wisdom.

https://everydaypowerblog.com/martin-luther-king-jr-quotes/

"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

— Letter From a Birmingham Jail, 1963

I reach out - because that is the tradition of nonviolence.