Bridging owner-player divisions

Bell: NFL needs to build trust, support players

With three weeks till the start of the NFL’s regular season, there’s still no resolution on the national anthem policy.

OK, there’s already a policy. Or guidelines. Or something that won’t be enforced while discussions continue between the league and the NFL Players Association.

“Some people may say, ‘We have to do X-Y-Z, and if you don’t, you’re out of luck,’ ” Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh told USA TODAY. “That’s not how the world works and not how this justice system is supposed to work. From that perspective, the NFLPA is doing the right thing.”

Conceivably, the NFLPA and NFL might jointly craft a policy that could mandate players stand for the anthem. Yet at this point — two years after nowunemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick launched a protest to express disgust with the numerous killings of African-Americans at the hands of police and other social injustices — there’s no need for such a heavy-handed approach.

Forget the criticism coming from the White House, with President Donald Trump egging on the likes of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, seen recently wearing a cap with his team’s lo- go during the anthem.

The NFL doesn’t need a new policy. It needs to better support its players, more than 70% of them African-American, and better acknowledge why many have been moved to protest in the first place.

It’s not about disrespecting the flag, the military or first responders — entities which, by the way, NFL owners have propped up as part of its patriotic package … while routinely selling beer during the anthem.

“I think it’s sad that the narrative has changed from what it was originally about,” Raiders tight end Jared Cook said. “People don’t understand what the things are that people are protesting. Just close-minded people that don’t understand other people’s point of view.”

Several African-American NFL players have acknowledged to USA TODAY in recent weeks that the hot-button issue has prompted continual dialogue in their public and private lives. Some declined to speak on the record, with one player maintaining he is declining to make any gesture — such as taking a knee or raising a fist, or remaining in the locker room during the anthem — because he suspects it could prevent him from securing a roster spot.

It’s the big elephant in the room, with many players prompted to take stock of their social consciousness at a turbulent time for the nation. While it’s hardly the sole responsibility of NFL players to spark national dialogue, the protests and debate surely underscore the power of a platform that comes with the nation’s most popular sport.

That’s why many players must weigh the decision of whether to protest.

“It affects us directly,” Cook added. “It affects our families, our kids, our friends. Everywhere we go, we get the same questions. We’re faced with a decision. It’s basically an ultimatum. It’s sad that it’s got to that.”

Last fall, when players met with league officials and a handful of owners in New York, the spirit of advancing from protests to social justice and community service initiatives carried the day, with owners pledging to match player contributions in creating a $90 million fund toward such measures.

Yet despite numerous examples of action on that front, the decision in May by owners to approve an anthem policy, without the input of players, underscored why the NBA has for years had a policy requiring players stand during the anthem while the NFL has drama.

It’s a matter of trust, too. Compare the trust factor between NFL and NBA players and their leagues, and it’s at opposite extremes. That certainly wasn’t improved in the NFL’s case, when owners rammed through the policy in May.

That any penalties arising from the “new” policy are now suspended — and at least two teams maintained players wouldn’t be disciplined — underscores how far the NFL is from a real resolution.

Remember, Kaepernick is still out of work. Eric Reid, the safety who knelt alongside the quarterback with the 49ers, doesn’t have a job, either. And the Cowboys have said publicly what other teams might also determine, that players who don’t stand for the anthem won’t have a job.

Which is one more reason this is not the time for some hardline measure to beat a perceived deadline before the start of the season. This begs for an organic solution that doesn’t trample on any player’s sense to exhibit a personal expression.

“There are 2,700 guys in the NFL last weekend and how many — 15 or so — protested,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told USA TODAY. “Excuse me, a couple of them took a knee, a few stayed in the locker room.”

All of Tomlin’s players stood during the anthem, with no form of a protest.

As it stands, he’s seemingly in limbo. No, he doesn’t have a locker room with the type of socially active players as in Philadelphia or, at least previously, in Seattle. He insists he won’t tell Steelers how to approach the anthem, one way or another. At least not until further notice.

“There’s no philosophy,” he said. “Our philosophy is whatever happens at the end of those discussions, we’re going with. Why are we worried about something where we’re not in the room, we’ve got no control over and will be decided for us. We’re cool with all of that. We’re focused on football.”

If only it were that simple.