National anthem debate to headline owners meetings

ORLANDO, FLA. » The national anthem is going to be a hot topic at the NFL owners meetings.

Just don’t expect any farranging decisions to be made.

Judging by the comments Sunday from the Texans’ Robert McNair and the Jets’ Christopher Johnson, the debate among the 32 owners could be confrontational.

McNair, who last year made an analogy of inmates running the prison about players’ demonstrations during the anthem, remains adamant that everyone should stand for the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“Our playing field is not the place for political statements, not the place for religious statements,” McNair said. “It’s the place for football.”

Johnson, acting owner of the Jets with his brother, Woody, serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom, took a far different tack.

“I have immense respect for the players and their efforts,” Christopher Johnson said. “I think if other teams approached it like that, it would not be such a problem in the NFL.

“I can’t speak to how other people run their teams, but I just think that trying to forcibly get the players to shut up is a fantastically bad idea.”

While the social protests players made last season will be a topic here, reaching an agreement on language in the league’s policy regarding behavior during the anthem is highly unlikely. Owners will meet again in May in Atlanta, and with so much other business to attend in the next three days, the anthem issue figures to extend until then.

“I don’t know if it’ll be a vote or just a new policy coming out,” Giants owner John Mara said. “I think we can’t go much beyond the May meeting before coming up with some sort of resolution to that.”