Trump offside: NFL
TToo quick ik on anthem ‘triumph’
The NFL and its players union said Wednesday there was no change in league policy on the national anthem — contradicting a tweet from President Trump that wrongly said players had been ordered to stand.
“There has been no change in the current policy regarding the anthem,” Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith said in a joint statement.
League and union brass will discuss the issue next week during league meetings, they added.
“The agenda will be a continuation of how to make progress on the important social issues that players have vocalized.”
The pair also rejected Trump’s repeated claims that the players who kneeled during the anthem were disrespecting the flag and the military.
“Everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military, and we are coming together to deal with these issues in a civil and constructive way,” they said.
Earlier Wednesday, the president prematurely spiked the ball on Twitter, praising Goodell for “demanding” that players stop protesting during the anthem.
“It is about time that Roger Goodell of the NFL is finally demanding that all players STAND for our great National AnthemRESPECT OUR COUNTRY,” Trump wrote.
Trump sparked the culture war at a rally on Sept. 22 in Alabama, where he said team owners should fire “any son of a bitch” who takes a knee.
On Tuesday, Goodell sent out a memo to all 32 NFL teams saying that players “should stand” for the anthem
Goodell also warned that the anthem issue is “threatening to erode the unifying power of our game, and is now dividing us, and our players, from many fans across the country.”
A veteran NFL player warned Wednesday of a furious backlash if the league banned players from protesting social injustice by kneeling during the anthem.
“I don’t think guys are gonna like it,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Gerald McCoy, who said he didn’t plan on taking a knee, told Adam Schefter’s “Know Them from Adam” podcast.
“I think it’s gonna be an uproar if that is to happen because you’re basically taking away a constitutional right to freedom of speech. If guys wanna have a, I guess you would call it a peaceful protest, I don’t think it’s right to take that away.”
Meanwhile, a new Quinnipiac University poll said voters, by 58 percent to 34 percent, believed that Trump’s comments on NFL protests were not appropriate. But voters also disapproved — 52 percent to 43 percent — of NFL players taking a knee.