OUT IN LEFT FIELD: NFL owners give anthem controversy another boost
Last week, the NFL came out with a directive to all its personnel about the National Anthem — all personnel on the field will stand “respectfully” for the anthem or wait in the locker room until after the anthem.
Almost immediately, and even now, a week later, players and sports commentators are still talking about the new directive.
It’s been called everything from a free speech issue to a reactionary issue from the owners trying to appease President Donald Trump and his endless tweets on the subject.
With all of this hoopla going on about it, I can’t help but think back about 20 years ago when Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the former Chris Jackson, refused to stand for the anthem before NBA games, stating that the flag was a symbol of oppression and tyranny.
Back then, if you remember, the NBA cracked down on Abdul-Rauf and suspended him but eventually worked out a compromise where he would stand but could close his eyes and look downward during the playing of the anthem. Two decades later, the NFL is experiencing its own anthem issue with players, notably led by Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, again protesting tyranny and oppression by the U.S. government.
The difference between the NBA and the NFL is that the NBA always had a policy about the National Anthem — all players will stand for the playing of it in the NBA and all players should stand for it, not must stand for it, in the NFL.
Now because of the controversy, more realistically because of the fact that fans are staying away and not spending money on NFL gear and sponsors’ products, NFL owners are changing their policy on the anthem.
So a controversy that was beginning to die out just got a big shot in the arm.
Players are complaining again, the player’s union is complaining again, sports commentators across the spectrum are weighing in again and President Trump is tweeting again.
And it all came down to two issues, money and prestige. The Department of Defense spent more than $5 million from 2011-14 on National Anthem ceremonies and other recruitment pushes.
What the NFL owners did was reactionary. They perceived, whether true or not, that their product was losing popularity and losing money so they implemented a rule that appealed to the audience consuming said product so people would continue to spend money on it.
As for the protests, NFL owners had to do something because these are 32 billionaires who live on the prestige of putting on a show every Sunday in the fall.
Put simply, it’s their stage and they want the glory from it. When a player protests, the owners’ stage is hijacked and they can’t stand the thought of someone stealing their glory.
That’s the other reason the owners had to do something about the anthem protests. Whether the players understood what they did or not, they took the stage away from the owners and that just can’t happen.
Now the ball is in the NFL players’ court. How will they respond to this, only time will tell.
But one thing is certain, this issue is far from over and will hang over another football season come fall.
Neal McClelland is assistant sports editor of The Daily Iberian.