President Trump attacks NFL player protests
The issue of NFL players’ protests during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games is a hot button issue. On Friday, the President of the United States weighed in.
Donald Trump, while speaking at a political rally in Alabama for Sen. Luther Strange, implored fans to not attend games and players who “disrespect our flag” to be released.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag to say, ‘Get that son of a b***h off the field right now. Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!,” Trump said. “The only thing you could do better is if you see it, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore, anyway.
Trump also said the protests are “hurting the game”. He also believes referees are “ruining the game” by calling 15-yard penalties for “beautiful tackles”. Trump also said the NFL’s ratings are “massively, massively” down because would rather watch him. The NFL’s dropped eight percent in 2016 compared with 2015.
Trump’s comments prompted a response Saturday from commissioner Roger Goodell.
“The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture,” Goodell’s statement read. “There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we’ve experience over the last month.
“Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.”
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith also issued a statement weighing in Trump’s comments, with not-so-subtle shots at Goodell and the NFL’s owners thrown in for good measure.
“Whether or not Roger and the owners will speak for themselves about their views on player rights and their commitment to player safety remain to be seen,” Smith’s statement read. “This union, however, will never back down when it comes to protecting the constitutional rights of our players as citizens as well as their safety as men who compete in a game that exposes them to great risks.”
The NFLPA also released a statement that expanded upon what its executive director said.
“Their decision is no different from the one made by countless others who refused to let ‘what they do’ define or restrict ‘who they are’ as Americans,” the statement read. “No man or woman should ever have to choose a job that forces them to surrender their rights.”
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick began the wave of NFL player protests when he sat during the national anthem during a 2016 preseason game as a member of the San Francisco 49ers. Kaepernick opted out of his contract but hasn’t signed with a team yet. Trump didn’t mention Kaepernick or any other NFL player by name during Friday’s rally although he did take credit for the fact Kaepernick hadn’t been signed earlier this year.
The First Amendment doesn’t exist in a bubble.
There can’t be intelligent discourse unless we have the right to express ourselves freely. This right doesn’t exclude NFL players. The fact they play a game and make a lot of money doing so doesn’t exclude them from protection under the First Amendment. It doesn’t stop them from being citizens.
At the same time, the detractors have the same right to express themselves. The First Amendment isn’t just for speech one agrees with or supports. Trump, as an American, has the right to say what he said. It isn’t so much the words he said that are problematic (and they are), it’s saying them while he’s President of the United States.
Eight months ago, he took an oath “to the best of his ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States”. Trump calling out NFL players for exercising their Constitutional rights as Americans goes against the oath he took. In addition, as President of the United States and commander-in-chief, doesn’t Trump have more important things to worry about than an NFL player not standing for the national anthem?
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