NFL protests continue after Trump’s comments
Colin Kaepernick (7) started a kneeling protest that has inspired many, just as it has angered many.
October 10, 2017
On Sept, 1, 2016, during a preseason football game, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick took one knee during the National Anthem in a personal protest over inequality.
The initial gesture has created a ripple effect throughout the National Football League and in light of President Donald Trump’s recent remarks almost a year later at a Sept. 22 rally in Huntsville Alabama has moved the ripple to a roar.
“We’re proud of our country, we respect our flag,” Trump said. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when someone disrespects our flag to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now! Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!'”
As a direct response to the president, many of the NFL’s top players took a knee during the national anthem before games that week.
Players such as Von Miller and Demaryius Thomas of the Denver Broncos took a knee during the playing of the anthem and LeSean McCoy of the Buffalo Bills went as far as stretching.
The acting owner of the Jets, Woody Johnson, the brother of a Trump appointee linked arms with his team before kickoff.
More notably, Dallas Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones took to the field with his team, linking arms and protesting alongside the players before the anthem.
Shannon Sharpe shared his views and disappointments about the incident on his television show, “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed.”
“Of the 7,537 things that President Trump has said in the last 50 years, him calling an NFL player a ‘SOB’ is what brought the NFL together,” Sharpe said. And while some might be moved by the conscience of these NFL owners, it wasn’t their conscience that moved them. It was the cash.”
The original meaning behind the protest, according to Kaepernick, was to bring awareness to the injustice of police violence that faced the African-American community.
Trump’s comments caused a great deal of outcry from the football community.
The NFL demonstrations have stirred both debate and conversation from football fans across the nation.
Bozton Sanders, a linebacker for Scottsdale Community College football shared some thoughts on his time spent with his team regarding the protests.
Sanders said that it was the team unity that was important to the coach.
“Coach talks about it (the protests) all the time, he’s really open about it,” Sanders said. “He asked us if we wanted to do it, we could all do it as a unit but we shouldn’t do it solo if we take a knee.”
Dee Dee Crumb • Oct 11, 2017 at 10:08 am
It’s time to change it up, let’s not take a knee. The struggle to make awareness of the inequality in the black community is one that will need to be constant and drastic. Along with that comes a responsibility to accept the aftermath that follows. Being socially conscience isn’t an easy role but if you are serious about making change then you have to be prepared for the consequences. The gesture of taking a knee has been acknowledged and now we need to find a new gesture to keep the awareness going. Thanks Colin for the head start.