If they want to be a Dallas Cowboy, players will have to stand for the National Anthem
by Howie Katz
Big Jolly Times
July 31, 2018
Refusing to stand for the playing of The Star Spangled Banner disrespects our flag and country. And that’s what many NFL players did all last season as a protest against police brutality. And to their shame, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and most of the team owners supported the protest on the field.
Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans, did not support the protests. In October he said, “We can't have the inmates running the prison.” He received so much flack from players throughout the league, so that he apologized for having made that remark. But then in April he said he wished he had not made that apology.
The NFL is really the UFL … Unpatriotic Football League. And one of the teams also needs a name change. No, not the Washington Redskins. It’s the New England Patriots that have sure been misnamed. Owner Bob Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have all supported the right of players to disrespect our flag and country by refusing to stand during the anthem. Patriots my ass!
Finally in May, after a continuing barrage of criticism and declining TV viewership of NFL games, Roger Goodell got off his ass and instituted a new National Anthem policy. All players on the field would have to stand during the anthem. Players who did not want to respect our flag and country would have to remain in the locker room until after the anthem.
The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) had a fit. Earlier this month the NFLPA filed a grievance against the NFL, claiming that “this new policy, imposed by the NFL’s governing body without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on player rights.”
A spineless Goodell quickly caved in. On July 19 The NFL and NFLPA issued a joint statement which said “no new rules relating to the anthem will be issued or enforced for the next several weeks”
How disgusting! Respect for flag and country should never ever be subject to collective bargaining.
And that is how Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, must feel. On Wednesday a patriotic Jerry Jones defied an unpatriotic Roger Goodell and an unpatriotic NFLPA. He told reporters that his players would be forbidden from protesting or remaining in the locker room during The Star-Spangled Banner. “Our policy is you stand during the anthem, toe on the line.”
Stephen Jones, Jerry’s son and executive vice president of the Cowboys, said that players will have to stand “if they want to be a Dallas Cowboy.” He went on to say:
“We certainly are supportive of them when they have their personal issues or their personal things that they want to pursue. And we'll help them pursue them on Tuesdays. But when you're wearing the Dallas Cowboy uniform and a Dallas Cowboy helmet and you're working for the Dallas Cowboys, you check the ‘I’ and the ‘me’ at the door, and you're a part of a team.”
President Trump tweeted Friday morning, “Way to go Jerry. This is what the league should do!”
The NFL players have every right to publicly express their personal views on any subject. They can condemn police brutality against blacks on any street corner, on any TV news show and in interviews with the print media. And they can even express those views on the playing field in some manner, provided they have the league’s permission to do so. But they do not have the right to disrespect our flag and country in front of thousands of spectators and millions of TV viewers.
The players are employees subject to the reasonable work rules of their bosses. While salaries and playing conditions are subject to collective bargaining, respect for flag and country is not and cannot ever be subject to any kinds of negotiation.
Goodell apparently believes that inmates should run the prison. Jerry and Stephen Jones and Bob McNair believe the guards should be in charge. They are patriotic. Goodell, the protesting players and the owners and coaches who support the players make up the Unpatriotic Football League..
God bless Jerry and Stephen Jones, and God bless America!
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