NFL players now taking their protests onto the field
The NFL would prefer the players’ now-ubiquitous protests take a back seat to the action this season, but it looks like the league won’t get its wish.
If anything, the players seem ready to take their social critique beyond sitting during the anthem.
Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, who is among the ranks of NFL players to sit during the national anthem, celebrated a sack Sunday afternoon with a single raised fist.
Bennett was the first Seattle player announced during pregame introductions before the home opener against the 49ers and received one of the loudest ovations.
Then he took what’s become his usual seat on the bench during the national anthem.
Protesters supporting Bennett, who says he was subjected to racial profiling and excessive force when Las Vegas police detained him last month, gathered outside the stadium.
Seattle center Justin Britt and running back Thomas Rawls stood next to Bennett each with a hand on his shoulder during the anthem. Teammates Cliff Avril and Frank Clark also sat with Bennett for the final moments of the anthem.
Out-of-work quarterback Colin Kaepernick generally is credited with starting the trend of kneeling or sitting during the national anthem in protest of police treatment of black citizens in the U.S.
Kaepernick’s movement, which many believe has cost him a job, has grown this season, with offshoots of the protest forming, including players showing solidarity by putting their hands on each other’s backs during the anthem.
Bennett’s raised fist, however, is the first instance of a player seeming to protest during a game.
While the NFL battles declining ratings and a negative perception surrounding the anthem protests, the league office can’t be excited to see players moving their demonstrations to the field of play.
(The NFL as the NBA had before it has become a black/liberal league. Only their views are accommodated it seems on NBC, CBS and of course ESPN. Giving the black power salute on the field should be the final straw. Their destruction is now assured. There is no place for traditional patriotic Americans. The black power salute is the signal that any right thinking normal American should turn away. )
30 comments:
Don't like it? Don't buy it. Life is too short to tilt at windmills, or to spend time watching them collapse. Find something new. This will fix itself only due to your absence, but not your outrage. Cash is king.
If the owners had a functioning neuron, not to mention gave a damn, they'd get rid of Roger Goodell, PC weenie that he is, and replace him with Jerry Jones.
Being an Eagles fan, I could never stand the Cowboys, especially when they called themselves America's Team (one of the rare fields of common ground I suspect I share with Troop), but, when he said anyone who didn't stand for the flag and the National Anthem was no longer part of the organization, Jerry Jones won a place in my heart equal to that held by Joe Johnston for William Tecumseh Sherman or Zachary Taylor for Jefferson Davis after Buena Vista.
bag, I haven't watched a game in 25 years.
I've been hearing that new resident screaming at sports again today. He sure pitches his voice way up there when he's thrilled. And he swears loudly. As if nobody else in the world is hearing him. In his own little spectator world. It was fun just hearing it. Somebody is really digging sports on t.v., I have no idea what he's watching. This proves to me that there are people out there unaffected by politics mixed with sports. Although there's no way to know if he's watching NFL, or ESPN. As I'm writing this I just heard, "No! No! No! No! No!" and if that really must be American football. It's a familiar series of outbursts.
When I'm in a room with dudes watching football and they all do that at once, I turn my attention to the television to see the cause of commotion and I'm utterly lost. What I see on the tube is perfectly meaningless to me. As if Greek writing suddenly appeared in my hieroglyph book, inside, I'm all, "What?" When I ask they answer in Greek. "Defensive end clip error holding false start Ineligible receiver downfield pooch kick wild card screen pass sack scramble possession holding illegal formation"
And I go, "Oh. That again. Thanks."
It's even worse with hockey. I haven't one single clue what they're doing.
The black power salute is right up there with the Nazi salute: Straight-up racism.
Much less he and his mostly non-cronies doing and not doing this season.
Quit whipping up shit that ain't worth crap.
For someone who has given up on the NFL and football in general, you sure as hell tend to focus a whole lot on (given your renouncement), of all teams in of all places, the Seahawks in Seattle, and the NFL in general. I thought you gave up on football a year ago? Said you were done, weren't going to pay attention anymore to football. Still, you do.
Huh.
bag, I haven't watched a game in 25 years.
Then why the eff are you participating in/encouraging the generalized politicization of something you clearly haven't cared about since, gave up on in, 1992, based on your own words?
Sweet jumpin' Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Could it be that you're just a spoiler?
No, dear, I'm just making the point there is life after Brent Musberger.
Oh, dear, you keep making points proving your malevolence.
Not to mention your general ignorance.
I am only commenting on things I read about and encouraging others to abandon those parts of society who are trying to destroy us. If you think the NFL and ESPN are not a big part of the problem then you are lost as usual.
I loved the Pack when I was a boy -- a time which coincided with the Bart Starr glory years. If there was overt racism in football then I don't recall it. I do remember that Rufus Fergusson was a "big thing" in UW-football and I'm still grateful to an old Middleton neighbor for taking me to game during his time. My own parents were not fans of organized sports. But, I pretty much gave up on pro-football long ago -- especially as I moved from state to state. I never became a Browns fan in Cleveland; I never became a Broncos fan in Fort Collins; I never became a '49er fan in Sunnyvale; never became a Charger fan in San Diego and Oceanside -- even though I was surrounded at times by ardent local fans. I am still a fair weather Packer fan.
@rcommal: So I can understand Troop's confliction: Both loving and hating the NFL. He put a lot of years into it and didn't ask that it be taken away, eroded, and otherwise pervaded by racism which is what black power salutes and BLM is beneath the surface. And these ugly expressions have been creeping and growing over time just as they have been on university campuses as well. It is encouraged or ignored by too many, perhaps even by yourself.
Bags wrote: "Don't like it? Don't buy it. Life is too short to tilt at windmills, or to spend time watching them collapse. Find something new. This will fix itself only due to your absence, but not your outrage. Cash is king."
You are correct, sir, and that is part of what's happening. It's too bad that the fan's displeasure can't be focused solely on those you insist on bringing overt racism to the playing field. I think more booing would be in order. It's a bit more proactive than just ignoring. Perhaps a few more seasons of declining revenue will finally hit the overly paid players and they will begin to police themselves off the field.
"Those who insist" not "those you insist."
If Ritmo were here he would insist that even the most egregious black power salute could not possibly be construed as racist because of "minority status" in view of whites. I would ask him to count the colors of players on the field to counter that argument.
Football is a beautiful game.
If we allow and accept black power salutes, we should allow white power symbols as well -- if any white player were racist enough to do so. It would be even more symbolic and mocking if a black player did a Hitler salute.
I'm pretty sure Wiki edited out a line stating that Australian medalist Peter Norman, when he asked to join in on the salute was told no, this was a Black moment. Unless I read it elsewhere, but I doubt it.
"After the race, the three athletes went to the medal podium for their medals to be presented by David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter. On the podium, during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", Smith and Carlos famously joined in a Black Power salute. This salute was later clarified in Tommie Smith's autobiography as a Human Rights salute, not a Black Power salute.
Norman wore a badge on the podium in support of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR). After the final, Carlos and Smith had told Norman what they were planning to do during the ceremony. As journalist Martin Flanagan wrote; "They asked Norman if he believed in human rights. He said he did. They asked him if he believed in God. Norman, who came from a Salvation Army background, said he believed strongly in God. We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat. He said, 'I'll stand with you'." Carlos said he expected to see fear in Norman's eyes. He didn't; "I saw love."[11] On the way out to the medal ceremony, Norman saw the OPHR badge being worn by Paul Hoffman, a white member of the US Rowing Team, and asked him if he could wear it.[12] It was Norman who suggested that Smith and Carlos share the black gloves used in their salute, after Carlos left his pair in the Olympic Village.[4] This is the reason for Smith raising his right fist, while Carlos raised his left."
As I understand it, the Black Power salute is based on the International Workers of the World salute.
Wealthy, comfortable gents ostentatiously demonstrating their privilege over prole objections and at prole expense.
"Home, James," bellowed the fullback to his driver/sober coach/drug supplier and ripped a galactic fart as the limo lurched forward in response, rolling over a fan who had just paid $150.00 to watch him repeatedly miss plays, blame others, and lose, "I need some 'me' time."
Yeah, let's tune in for more and more of that.
"As I understand it, the Black Power salute is based on the International Workers of the World salute."
It always circles back to commies.
As I understand it, the black power salute is used by black athletes in support of BLM. BLM is a racist organization, evidenced fior example by their utter rejection that "all lives matter." I take them at their word without a wink wink that of course all lives matter but we need to recognize the special plight of black people. No, we do not need to do that at sporting events, many of which are dominated by black players.
If the black power salute were really about workers of the world economics, let black NFL players go out on strike in solidarity with poor exploited workers everywhere.
That being said, the "fist out" symbol is a symbol of worker solidarity. See for example the Wisconsin Stae Employee movement which tried to bring down Scott Walker. All f the failure was just a foreshadowing of TDS.
The black power salute as expressed by black players ar sporting events is not about world wide economic solidarity; it's about seething, unresolved resentment; it's about sticking t to the man.
Chick, I just said the two black medalist refused to let the white medalist join in, that it was indeed a black thing.
@deborah: Suppose that the black power salute is all about international worker solidarity...why is that appropriate for a sporting event?
It's an Occam's Razor thing: these passionate expression almost always follow on the heels of perceived slights to the black man by the white man. Is there something stewing in St Louie right now?
Personally, I'm all for letting the NFL continue to hemorrhage viewers, fans, and especially money. Let it bite the salaries of ESPN suits; let it bite the salaries Disney executives.
I'm saying the sign was borrowed for the express use of black rights, with workers' used as a fig leaf.
What the market will bear. Boomers have the numbers, do they have the will.
And these ugly expressions have been creeping and growing over time just as they have been on university campuses as well. It is encouraged or ignored by too many, perhaps even by yourself.
... . It is encouraged or ignored by too many, perhaps even by yourself. ...
Wow. No.
NO. No.No.
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