NFL players’ protests are unnecessary roughness
If you like professional sports, a major reason — perhaps THE reason — you attend games, or watch them on TV, is that it helps you escape from whatever occupies your mind the rest of the week. You certainly don’t want the issues of the day encroaching on your enjoyment.
The recent exchange of insults between President Trump and some in the National Football League was the latest indication that there is no safe place remaining where one can hide from politics.
Football is a sport, but it is also a business. Fans pay big money for tickets, gear, parking and overpriced food and drinks. They have put up with a lot to root for their favorite teams, but these protests, which many regard as disrespecting America and the flag, may have exceeded their high tolerance level.
The players say they are “taking a knee” to protest police brutality inordinately targeted toward African-Americans. It is this systemic racism, this inequality that they are attempting to bring into public view. It’s a right cause, certainly, but perhaps the wrong arena? If fans stop coming to games and watching them on
TV, the unique covenant between player and fan will be broken, perhaps forever.
Sunday-night games on NBC usually attract a large number of viewers. Last week’s game between Washington and Oakland, according to an ESPN report, “was the lowest-rated Week 3 game from metered markets since 2006.... Preliminary television ratings for the nationally broadcast games Sunday on CBS,
Fox and NBC were down 1 percent, 16 percent and 11 percent, respectively.”
Fans of the Washington Redskins, who are historically loyal, booed players for kneeling and locking arms during the national anthem. Don’t these players realize they are killing the golden goose?
Many are fed up with being told they have to tolerate everything they don’t believe in. They are sick of being called names for upholding val- ues that have served the nation well. They see President Trump as championing those values, however short he’s come in practicing them. They believe he loves America as they do and are willing to forgive behavior they wouldn’t tolerate in anyone else.
The president has called for a boycott of NFL games if these demonstrations continue. One already sees a lot of empty seats at some games. Part of it may be that people don’t want to support perpetual losers, but it may also be that fans don’t want politics in sports.
In a football game, a penalty is imposed for unnecessary roughness. This current roughness is unnecessary. The president has made his views clear. After many players refused invitations to come to the White House, the president disinvited them from the traditional ceremonies. The NFL continues to stand — for now — with its players. Maybe what’s needed is something like President Obama’s “beer summit,” with players, fans and the president talking to each other instead of hurling insults. Other solutions might include players staying in the locker room during the national anthem, as the Pittsburgh Steelers did, or perhaps to cut the anthem altogether.
Whatever grievances the players have, these demonstrations help no one. Future demonstrations could further widen the divide in an already seriously fractured nation.