NFL Will Allow Players To Continue To Kneel For The National Anthem

NFL ratings are tanking. Networks are losing money. It’s no coincidence. This is directly associated with the ridiculous national anthem protests. The NFL allowed it to get way out of control, and they’re trying to mitigate the damage.

Well, I thought they were trying to mitigate the damage.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent out a surprising letter last week. In it, he expressed the league’s belief that “everyone should stand for the National Anthem.”

“Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem,” he wrote. “It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us. We also care deeply about our players and respect their opinions and concerns about critical social issues. The controversy over the Anthem is a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues. We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players.”

Since then, the NFL and the NFL Players Association have been holding discussions. They’re trying to work this mess out.

NFL and NFL Players Association release joint statement after meeting: pic.twitter.com/fZYumUXb33

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 17, 2017

So much for coming together to find common ground. A decision has been made. The NFL isn’t going to do anything about the protests. Instead, the league wants to help kneelers “bring attention” to the issues. Issues like “rampant racism,” “systematic oppression,” and “police brutality.”

Yep. Goodell said the league wants them to stand and it will encourage it, but it basically ends there.

“We spent today talking about the issues that our players have been trying to bring attention to. About issues in our communities to make our communities better,” Goodell told reporters.

During the meeting at the Conrad Hotel in Manhattan, the protests themselves actually weren’t discussed very much, players said.

Oh. The disrespectful protests weren’t even really discussed? Isn’t that conveeeeeeeeenient.

So really, this meeting was a way of appeasing concerned fans. NFL officials wanted it to LOOK like they were concerned about the blatant disrespect, but they’re really not. Good to know.

“We were really more talking about solutions and how we get the results that we want to get,” said Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, a leading players spokesman.

 

“Conversations are ongoing,” Jenkins added. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity to really put a good plan together.”

 

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross called the meeting “constructive.”

“We heard what they had to say, and they heard us,” Ross said. “It’s open talks, and that’s a good thing.”

Nothing is going to change. These meetings were just a big show.

h/t AOL