Fans bash & back bid to end turmoil

FANS HAD mixed reactions Wednesday to the NFL’s plan to fine teams for kneeling in protest during the national anthem.

For Dominique Atkins, 45, a home health aide from Brooklyn, it’s a free speech issue.

“I think it’s a stupid decision,” she said. “(The players) should be allowed to do whatever they want to do. I don’t think the NFL has any right to penalize them or tell them to not kneel. That’s wrong.”

The team owners voted to allow players to stay in the locker room if they wanted, rather than air their political views on the field.

Trevor Williams, 31, a security analyst from Brooklyn, said they’re missing the point.

“My brother is in the military so I get that side of the whole thing. But these guys aren’t against the flag, they’re against what’s going on in the country.”

Marine Corps vet Kenny Johnson, 53, from New Jersey, supported the policy.

“It’s like how they say, don’t mix politics and religion. Don’t mix politics and sports,” he said.

“They’re just trying to find a no-conflict situation with management. . . . They were losing the message of why we were protesting,” he said, noting that the negative publicity did not h have the intended impact.

Rather, he said, it diverted att tention to how NFL players s should conduct themselves.

Senegalese immigrant Kalif Fall, 64, who sells athletic socks and ball caps on E. 52nd St. and Second Ave., said the decision surprised him, but he thinks it’s the right move.

“It’s fair. The player has the right to stay in the locker room to express himself that way. It’s a good compromise,” he said.

“If you care about the count try, if you care about the flag, if you care about the military, then you should respect the national anthem.

“It’s better than what happened last year,” he added. “This is a good solution.”

Protest has a place in the NFL, but not on the field, said Peter Moore, 64, a lawyer from B Brooklyn.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction. You can use your platform to protest injustice but a line has to be drawn somew where.”