The NFL has announced a new policy
for its players and personal to
stand during the national anthem.
Those unwilling to kneel during the
anthem must stay in the locker room.
(John Bazemore/AP)
What’s
next?
NFL
sparks
new
questions
with
anthem
policy
By
PAUL
NEWBERRY
APNews.com
ATLANTA
- With
its
popularity
threatened
and
critics
stretching
all the
way to
the
White
House,
the NFL
just
wanted
to get
past the
debate
over
taking a
knee
during
the
national
anthem.
Put
the
focus
back on
football.
Instead,
the
league
seemed
to
muddle
the
divisive
issue
even
more
with a
new
policy
that
stirred
up
defenders
of free
speech,
prompted
a couple
of
owners
to
quickly
backtrack
and
raised
all
sorts of
potential
questions
heading
into
next
season.
After a
tumultuous
season,
NFL
owners
wrapped
up their
spring
meeting
in
Atlanta
by
announcing
Wednesday
that
players
would be
required
to stand
for the
national
anthem
if
they’re
on the
field
before a
game,
but gave
them the
option
of
staying
in the
locker
room if
they
wanted
to carry
on the
Colin
Kaepernick-inspired
campaign
against
police
brutality
and
social
injustice.
Commissioner
Roger
Goodell
called
it a
compromise
that
respected
the
wishes
of
everyone,
from
those
who
consider
“The
Star-Spangled
Banner”
a sacred
part of
the
American
experience
to those
who
believe
the
right to
protest
during
the
anthem
is also
in the
best
tradition
of a
free but
imperfect
society.
Yet,
it was
clear to
everyone
that the
owners
wanted
to quell
a
firestorm
by
moving
any
further
protests
away
from the
public
eye —
especially
if it
lured
back
disgruntled
fans
while
appeasing
President
Donald
Trump
and his
vocal
base of
support.
Kneel if
you
like.
But
stay out
of
sight.
“This is
a fear
of the
diminished
bottom
line,”
said
defensive
end
Chris
Long of
the
Super
Bowl
champion
Philadelphia
Eagles .
“It’s
also
fear of
a
president
turning
his base
against
a
corporation.
This is
not
patriotism.
Don’t
get it
confused.
These
owners
don’t
love
America
more
than the
players
demonstrating
and
taking
real
action
to
improve
it.”
Trump
addressed
the
issue
during a
political
campaign,
saying
the NFL
should
fire any
players
who
kneel
during
the
anthem .
He had
no
immediate
comment
on the
new
policy,
but Vice
President
Mike
Pence
called
it “a
win for
the
fans, a
win for
(the
president),
and a
win for
America.”
The
NFL
didn’t
consult
the
players’
union on
its new
policy,
though
Goodell
stressed
that the
league
had
talked
to
countless
players
over the
past
year and
was
committed
both
financially
and
philosophically
to the
fight
for
social
justice
.
“We
want
people
to be
respectful
of the
national
anthem.
We want
people
to
stand,”
Goodell
said.
“We’ve
been
very
sensitive
on
making
sure
that we
give
players
choices,
but we
do
believe
that
moment
is an
important
moment
and one
that we
are
going to
focus
on.”
In
an
attempt
to quell
a
potential
challenge
from the
NFL
Players
Association,
the
league
said any
violations
of the
new
rules
would
result
in fines
against
teams —
not
individual
players.
But
the
league
also
gave
teams
the
option
of
developing
their
own
workplace
rules,
which
many
players
interpreted
as a
backhanded
way of
subjecting
them to
fines —
or worse
— should
they
carry on
with the
protests.
“If
the team
says
‘this is
what
we’re
doing,’
and
ownership
(does
too),
you
either
deal
with it
or
you’re
probably
going to
get
cut,”
Pittsburgh
Steelers
guard
Ramon
Foster
said.
The
head of
the
NFLPA,
DeMaurice
Smith ,
angrily
denounced
the
NFL’s
decision
and
called
it a
blow
against
America’s
most
basic
rights —
freedom
of
speech.
Since
the new
policy
is a
change
in the
terms
and
conditions
of
employment
that was
not
collectively
bargained,
any
attempts
to fine
individual
players
would
surely
be
opposed
by the
union.
“History
has
taught
us that
both
patriotism
and
protest
are like
water;
if the
force is
strong
enough
it
cannot
be
suppressed,”
Smith
wrote on
Twitter.
“The
CEOs of
the NFL
created
a rule
that
people
who hate
autocracies
should
reject.”
But
many
players
are
mindful
that
Kaepernick,
who
began
the
protest
movement
in 2016
during
his
final
year at
quarterback
for the
San
Francisco
49ers,
didn’t
play at
all last
season
and
still
hasn’t
been
picked
up by
another
team .
They’re
also
aware of
the
plight
faced by
safety
Eric
Reid,
one of
Kaepernick’s
former
teammates
and
another
protest
leader,
who is
also out
of work
with the
upcoming
season
just a
few
months
away.
Both
have
filed
collusion
grievances
against
the NFL
.
Washington
defensive
back
Josh
Norman
said the
owners
have a
right to
decide
what the
players
can and
cannot
do, a
sentiment
shared
by many
of his
colleagues
around
the
league.
“They’ve
pretty
much got
the
teams,”
Norman
said.
“They
make
those
decisions.
We’ve
just got
to go
through
with it,
I
guess.”
A
handful
of
outspoken
players
vowed to
carry on
the
cause,
including
Eagles
safety
Malcolm
Jenkins.
“I
will not
let it
silence
me or
stop me
from
fighting,”
he said.
“This
has
never
been
about
taking a
knee,
raising
a fist
or
anyone’s
patriotism,
but
doing
what we
can to
effect
real
change
for real
people.”
While
Goodell
said the
new
policy
was
unanimously
approved
by the
owners,
CEO Jed
York of
the
49ers —
Kaepernick’s
former
team —
contradicted
the
commissioner
by
saying
he
abstained.
York
said he
didn’t
feel
comfortable
making a
decision
without
directly
involving
the
players’
union.
New
York
Jets
owner
Christopher
Johnson
took a
similar
approach.
He said
his team
will pay
any
fines
doled
out by
the
league,
without
passing
on
punishment
to the
players.
“I
will
support
our
players
wherever
we land
as a
team,”
Johnson
said.
“Our
focus is
not on
imposing
any club
rules,
fines or
restrictions.”
So,
what
happens
next?
The
NFL just
wants
the
issue to
go away.
Instead,
it
raised a
whole
new
batch of
questions.