USA TODAY US Edition

Harry Edwards: NFL made ‘dumbest move’

Policy shines light on protests again

- Jarrett Bell

It would be a shock if Harry Edwards were not appalled by the revised national anthem policy that NFL owners pushed through last week with hopes of squashing player protests.

Of course, Edwards, with undoubtedl­y the most powerful voice for more than a half-century linking sports and society, is livid.

“This is the dumbest move possible,” Edwards told USA TODAY of the policy, which mandates players who choose to be on the sideline stand during the anthem. “They put the protest movement on blast. They just created a bigger stage than ever.”

Edwards should know. Fifty years ago, he was in the midst of organizing what was then considered a radical movement, the Olympic Project for Human Rights. That effort fell short of the initial goal of a boycott of the 1968 Olympics by African-American athletes, but it raised consciousn­ess about societal injustices — much like Colin Kaepernick in 2016 when he knelt during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner — and led to the iconic image from Mexico City when sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised black-gloved fists while on the podium during the anthem.

“It’s almost like ’ 68 has come back through the mirror, including the same issues, including police killings of African Americans,” Edwards compared.

As Kaepernick contemplat­ed and carried out his protests nearly two years ago, which led to him remaining unsigned since the end of the 2016 season and his subsequent pursuit of a pending collusion grievance against the NFL, Edwards consulted the quarterbac­k. He has long been engaged with 49ers ownership that is clearly among the most progressiv­e in the NFL (CEO Jed York declared that the team intended to pause concession stand operations and other moneymakin­g ventures during the anthem). And as the crisis has escalated with the league embroiled in politics, he’s given advice to NFL Commission­er Roger Goodell.

The recommenda­tions to Goodell, outlined in a letter that Edwards shared with USA TODAY, involved three key themes that are boiled down as such:

❚ Work in collaborat­ion with the players in addressing the issues that fuel the protests, rather than focusing on retributio­n and punishment.

❚ Take a long-term view, recognizin­g that the movement could coalesce into another wave of athlete activism.

❚ Realize that retaliatio­n would turn protesting players into martyrs while positionin­g the league as an entity opposing the merits of the issues that are of concern to the players.

While the NFL has taken steps to back some of the efforts of players, most notably with a matching funds partnershi­p with the Players Coalition, the anthem policy is anything but supportive. The policy instead echoes themes espoused by President Trump, who has attacked the league with vitriolic rhetoric. After declaring last fall that the NFL should “get that son of a (expletive) off the field right now” as a means for dealing with players who engage in peaceful protests, Trump maintained to Fox & Friends on Thursday that protesting players maybe “shouldn’t even be in the country.”

It doesn’t surprise Edwards that in response to the NFL’s policy — and Trump’s latest salvo — players have pushed back, setting the stage for the return of the controvers­y the league wanted to go away.

“They took a movement that was in decline and have resurrecte­d it, pumped it up with adrenaline and made it a front-page story,” Edwards said. “And you’ve got you-know-who talking about players ought to leave the country.”

Edwards is incensed that the narrative has been redirected from the original protest motivation­s — police brutality and social injustices challengin­g African Americans and other people of color — to a debate about honoring the flag and respect for the armed forces.

“I don’t know of a single athlete who is trying to insult the soldiers or the flag,” Edwards said. “But because we’re perceived to not have the credibilit­y to speak to our own motivation­s and interests, it has come to this.”

He went on to blast NFL owners for allowing Trump to define patriotism as it relates to the anthem.

“But that’s where we are as a country,” Edwards said.

Strikingly, Edwards remains supportive of Goodell. He maintains that the commission­er’s role inherently involves taking the heat for the decisions of his bosses — the owners of the 32 teams.

“I feel for Roger, because I know where his heart is,” Edwards said. “But I guess that’s where the $44 million (estimate for his peak of his annual earnings during his tenure) comes in.”

Edwards said it harms the “tremendous effort” that Goodell demonstrat­ed in striking an ongoing agreement with the Players Coalition to pursue social justice and other initiative­s, which he feels is the model for moving from “protests to progress.”

Now Edwards insists that with African Americans representi­ng the overwhelmi­ng majority of protesting players, the racial overtones of the policy positioned the NFL as an institutio­n existing in what he calls a “white space” in America.

“You scratch your head and wonder: ‘Are they really this racist? This stupid? What’s driving this?’ ” Edwards said. “I think that at a very fundamenta­l level, we are still battling the residuals of 400 years of slavery. A lot of the owners think they own the players. They own the franchise.”

And a league at the center of societal debate like never before.

 ?? ERIC HARTLINE/USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Eagles strong safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) and free safety Rodney McLeod (23) stand in protest during the national anthem last season.
ERIC HARTLINE/USA TODAY SPORTS Eagles strong safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) and free safety Rodney McLeod (23) stand in protest during the national anthem last season.
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