As you know, this is a sports blog. I generally try to keep my politics out of it. But this week has been one of those occasions where sports and politics overlapped. And plenty of people have voiced their opinions about it.
Now, I didn't vote for Donald Trump and I disagree with pretty much everything he's said and done in the nine months since he took office. But he's the President and there's nothing I can do about it (at least not until Election Day in 2020). Trump's supporters think he's doing a great job, while his detractors (and there are many) think he's any number of adjectives. One of the nicest I can think of is "terrible."
Anyway, what Trump doesn't seem to understand is that the first word in the name of this country is United. Because the United States are anything but right now. In fact, as Oprah's excellent piece on 60 Minutes displayed, we're more divided than ever before.
That division was never more evident than on Sunday. After what the President said about NFL players who protest during the national anthem (Donald, you're not on The Apprentice anymore! "You're Fired!" is no longer your catchphrase!), you knew there was going to be some sort of reaction from the players. Likewise, fans having their own response to the players was equally predictable. I don't think anyone expected that reaction to be this strong, though.
Seemingly everyone has an opinion on the numerous protests we saw at Sunday's Week 3 NFL games. And those reactions went predictably along party lines. Trump supporters were outraged at the level of "disrespect" the players showed towards our flag, while others see no problem with the players expressing their First Amendment rights, and still others are wondering why Colin Kaepernick can't get a job when the entire league is protesting now.
I'll start with the first one since that's the easiest and most straight-forward. There are a lot of reasons why Colin Kaepernick doesn't currently have an NFL job. There most likely are some outside factors contributing to the fact that Kaepernick remains unsigned, but the biggest reason he doesn't have a team right now is because he's simply not that good. He'd be a backup quarterback at best, and even that's a stretch. Either way, he's not worth the headache he'd bring.
Also, this has nothing to do with Colin Kaepernick. This has everything to do with Donald Trump. Sure, there were still some NFL players who were protesting during the national anthem for the same reason they decided to join in Kaepernick's well-publicized protest last year. But this didn't become a league-wide stance until the President decided to call out NFL players (with no provocation) at a political rally in Alabama. His comments were inappropriate and wrong, and the players decided to take a stand. In other words, they decided to show unity (there's that magic word again).
When Kaepernick decided to start his protest last year, I didn't agree with it. I thought he was making it about himself rather than bringing light to a larger issue. This situation is completely different. This was the NFL's players standing (or kneeling, or locking arms) together to say that, as a group, they disagree with the President's comments and they wanted to make sure everyone knew it.
They weren't disrespecting the flag or the military or first responders or anyone else. They were sending a message to Donald Trump. And it should be awfully telling that those involved in the protests included players of all races, as well as coaches and team owners. (Don't be surprised if we see similar protests in the NBA once that season starts.)
Of course, that explanation isn't good enough for some. And they're completely entitled to that opinion. But, even if people stop watching or going to games in response to the protests (as Trump has advocated), there will be plenty of others to take their place. The NFL's not going anywhere, and neither are football fans. In fact, there are also plenty of people out there who agree with the players' decision to protest this weekend.
Steelers fans seem to be the most outraged, which makes sense, seeing as rural Pennsylvania is one of the key areas that swayed the election in Trump's favor. Pittsburgh's protest was also the most noticeable. They didn't want to make players feel like they had to express themselves one way or the other, so they just stayed in the locker room during the national anthem, a move Ben Roethlisberger now regrets.
Of course, the most ironic thing about this weekend's protests is that so many people missed the point. Whether you agree with the President or not, there's no law saying that you have to stand during the national anthem. Quite the contrary actually. Our laws protect your ability to protest in a peaceful manner. Yet all of these people are expressing pure outrage over the players simply exercising their constitutional rights. Constitutional rights that are granted to all Americans.
This is the best country in the world. Precisely because we have this freedom. Our country works (and has for 250 years) because everyone is allowed to express their viewpoint. You don't have to agree with it, just like they don't have to agree with you. That's what makes this country so great.
During his campaign, Trump claimed that he was going to "Make America Great Again." Well, in order for that to happen, we need to start listening to and understanding each other. Because the unfortunate truth, as illustrated by the reaction to this weekend's NFL protests, is that we're not doing that. We aren't coming together as a nation. We're drifting further apart.
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