STANDING UNITED
Athletes and teams stand up to Trump’s swipes over anthem
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross stands with players Reshad Jones and Mike Pouncey during the national anthem at pregame ceremonies. Players protested at every NFL game Sunday. President Donald Trump’s taunts over protests are becoming a national issue. Story,
LOS ANGELES — The tradition of watching the NFL on Sundays found itself caught in the middle of political and social rancor as the fight between President Donald Trump and the league escalated with player protests at every game.
Players from London to New England to California kneeled or locked arms, as players from Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Seattle stayed in the locker room during the national anthem.
The intersection of sports and politics showed signs of morphing into a wider culture war, with Trump’s opponents and allies publicly sparring over First Amendment rights and the reopening of painful racial wounds.
Because of the time difference, players from the Baltimore Raven sand Jacksonville Jaguars got the jump on everyone by kneeling or locking arms in protest during the national anthem before the kickoff of their game Sunday morning in London.
Back in the U.S, players in early afternoon games followed suit before their contests started.
The Pittsburgh Steelers stayed in the visitors’ locker room in Chicago during the national anthem. The only Steelers player who was visible was left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, a former Army Ranger, who stood at the edge of the tunnel with his hand over his heart during the anthem. Bears players stood along their sideline, most of them with their arms interlocked in a show of unity.
The protests started more than a year ago when former San Francisco 49 e rs quarterback ColinKae per nick refused to stand during the anthem as a protest of police treatment of minorities. This season, no team has signed him, and some supporters believe NFL owners are avoiding him because of the controversy.
The protests had slowed to a trickle this season.
Trump reignited them with his inflammatory comments Friday night at a political rally in Alabama, when he challenged NFL owners to fire any players who refused to stand for the anthem.
A handful of white players didn’t stand Sunday, but the vast majority of those actively protesting were black.
As he prepared to board Air Force One to return to Washington from New Jersey, Trump said the players protesting the anthem were “very disrespectful to our country” and called again on owners to stop what he considers unpatriotic displays in America's most popular sport.
“This has nothing to do with race,” Trump said. “This has to do with respect for our country.”
On Sunday, even team owners who donated millions of dollars to Trump’s presidential run publicly rejected his comments.
“I am deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the president,” said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a friend of Trump’s who contributed $1 million to his campaign.
In the human chain on the Jaguars’ sideline at Wembley Stadium was team owner Shad Khan, who had also donated $1 million to Trump’s campaign.
In some ways, the owners’ stance was reminiscent of several business leaders resigning from White House business councils in order to distance themselves from Trump’s response to a July white-supremacist march in Charlottesville, Va.
Trump drew widespread criticism when he said that not only extremist hate groups bore responsibility for violence surrounding the march, which led to the death of a counterprotester.
The players had little to lose by this display, especially since they had the support of most owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell, who called the president’s comments “divisive.”
The protest seemed more about Trump’s comments than the national anthem or racial divide.
“I can’t stand and support something where our leader of this country is just acting like a jerk,” said Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy.
DevinMcCourty, a defensive back with the Patriots, added: “We hate that people are going to see it as that we don’t respect the military and the men and women that are way braver than us that go and put their life on the line every day for us. … But, we justwanted to send a message of unity and being togetherandnot standing for the disrespect and different ways guys felt.”
Trump continued to tweet about the topic later Sunday saying: “Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!”