What Trump Doesn't Understand About NFL Player Protests
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
What Trump doesn't understand about NFL player protests
David Knowles 1 hour 59 minutes ago 
Several New England Patriots players kneel during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
With the start of the NFL season close at hand, and the 2018 midterm elections in less than three months, President Trump has renewed his attack on players who “take a knee” during the national anthem to protest racism.
The NFL, in part due to pressure from the president, rolled out new rules in May that sought to discourage the protests by fining teams whose players took part. The new policy would have allowed players to remain in the locker room during the anthem. Even before the preseason began, however, the league shelved its new policy, and player protests — along with Trump’s angry statements denouncing them — have resumed.
While numerous commentators see Trump’s attacks on the NFL as little more than a political calculation intended to shore up his base, polls show that the nation is divided roughly evenly on whether it is appropriate for players to express their views during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Muddying the national debate, Trump has made claims about the player protests that are simply untrue, according to Yahoo Sports columnist Jay Busbee . Yahoo News spoke with Busbee about what he sees as the president’s biggest misconceptions about the league and its players.
This iframe is not allowedDavid Knowles : The president seems to believe that many the NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem don’t really know why they’re doing it. Is that a fair characterization?
Jay Busbee : This began with Colin Kaepernick protesting social injustice, specifically police brutality against people of color. It was very specifically targeted and narrowly defined. It was in no way any kind of protest against the military or anything of that nature. And then it really took off, ironically enough, when Trump himself, back in week three of last year’s NFL season, brought up the idea that any protester should be fired. At that point, that’s when a large percentage of the players really stepped up and realized “We’re getting criticized. We’re getting called out and we have a voice here. We have the ability to start to make a positive change.” So what’s been remarkable is that this has galvanized the players, and those who have protested have spoken eloquently about why they are. Every week last year there was a player protester and we’d talk to him in the locker room and listen to him make his case about why he as a player, as a black man, as an American, would take that stand. They know what they’re doing. They know why they’re doing this. They also know, given the political climate, that they are risking their careers. They’ve seen what happened to Kaepernick. [Kaepernick left the San Francisco 49ers after the 2016 season and has not been signed by another team.] They’ve seen what happened to Eric Reid, who is a safety with San Francisco, same deal, he protests and has not been signed. Trump wants to paint this as some sort of gimmick, but these guys are risking their careers. This is no gimmick.
San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Eli Harold, former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, center, and former safety Eric Reid kneel during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Santa Clara, Calif., on Oct. 2, 2016. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
RELATED: What Trump doesn’t understand about trade and tariffs
DK : How much has Trump himself sparked and galvanized this protest movement?
JB : He absolutely has. These are some of the most competitive Americans there are. Every point of their careers they’ve had to fight for their jobs. From kiddie football all the way through high school, college and the pros they’ve had to fight for their jobs. They’re competitive men. And so when someone calls them out, someone criticizes them, it’s not in their nature to sit back and say “Well, he’s got a few good points.” Trump knows this and knows it’s sparking a debate. What he’s done is to recast the issue rather than look at the substance of the protest. He looks at the timing of the protest. If it had happened, say, during the coin toss, he wouldn’t have anything to hang on it, but because it happens during the anthem he can go and wrap himself in the flag and claim they’re protesting America. The protests get criticized unfairly as “anthem protests.” They’re not. They’re protests during the anthem. That’s a distinction that a lot of people fail to make. Trump knows it’s a winning issue to wrap yourself in the flag.
This iframe is not allowedDK : Does the bulk of NFL revenue go to the players?
JB : This is something that is factually, demonstrably untrue. NFL players receive between 47 percent and 48.5 percent of what’s called “direct revenue,” which includes all sorts of game operations, from television broadcasts. It’s a substantial chunk, but bear in mind that there’s 50-plus players on each team, divided by 32 teams. The NFL players, they’re not anywhere near as rich as their baseball and basketball counterparts. The basic fact of it is that not every player is rolling in money and enjoying a lifetime of financial security the way Trump likes to present it.
This iframe is not allowedDK : A lot of fans believe that it’s in the player’s contract that he must stand for the anthem and place hand over heart. Is there any truth to that?
JB : No. The NFL has no specific language mandating that you must stand. The code of conduct says that you are “expected to stand.” It hasn’t been an issue until now. The NFL didn’t think to mandate and require it like the NBA does. It’s not a fireable offense, it’s not a finable offense. The NFL has tried to make it that this summer. Teams were facing fines if players didn’t stand for the anthem, but that change hit so much backlash that it has been tabled for the moment. Again, there is no rule saying players have to stand. It’s a loophole in the NFL regulations that the league has not yet closed.
DK : The league has also shelved the idea that players might simply stay in the locker room during the playing of the anthem. Do you think the NFL regrets getting into this fight to begin with?
JB : Where the players are standing strong, the league is cowering. The owners are terrified of Trump and his tweets, and they shouldn’t be. They should be able to stand up and say “We are the most powerful sports league in the country. We are signing record contracts. We recorded record revenue.” And they are so petrified of Trump coming at them that they are doing everything they can to try and appease him. You cannot appease the president no matter what you do. He’ll say “thanks for that,” and then he’ll take some more. And that’s what he’s doing with the NFL. They make attempts to change rules and he says they’re not good enough and goes back to slapping them down again. For Trump, the NFL is the perfect foil because they’re a very low risk, high reward sort of target. He doesn’t have to risk any political capital. It’s red meat to throw to his base.
DK : The president has singled out declining NFL ratings, which he attributes to player protests, ignoring the fact that television ratings in the era of streaming services are declining across the board. But does he have a point?
JB : The NFL’s overall ratings in 2017 were down less than overall decline for broadcast TV as a whole. Audiences are down for every kind of broadcast medium. It’s absurd to think that the protests during the anthem have caused this. All you need to do is look one sport over. Look at NASCAR, where everybody does stand for the anthem and there’s a pre-race prayer. Their ratings are down horrendously. There are so many reasons for the NFL’s ratings decline, but the protests during the anthem are certainly not a primary contributing factor.
DK : Do you think Trump holds a grudge against NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league dating back to his purchase of the short-lived USFL team the New Jersey Generals and his own failed attempts to own a franchise?
President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 19, 2017, where the president honored the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots for their Super Bowl LI victory.. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
JB : A thousand percent. He absolutely does. He attempted in the ’80s to try to get the NFL to buy out the USFL, a rival spring football league, and was unsuccessful. He was largely responsible for the lawsuit that ended up demolishing the USFL entirely, vaporizing it. And then, more recently, he tried to buy the Buffalo Bills and was rebuffed. Trump carries these slights as motivation. He has never forgotten being spurned by the NFL on multiple occasions. So he revels in the chance to stick it to them any chance he gets.
DK : Where do think this battle between the NFL and Trump will ultimately lead?
JB : I think it’s going to keep going until one of the owners steps up and says, “Enough! This is what we’re doing. This is where we stand,” and then take the blast from Trump for a little bit longer and then he’ll go and find something else to attack. It’s also going to require the teams and the players to get closer together. That’s why the NBA can have its players stand for the anthem and not revolt. The NBA allows its players a whole lot more freedom in terms of free expression, saying what they want both on and off the court. The NFL wants its players to be automatons who just go out and play the game and have no other distractions. The NBA recognizes that these are men that have a whole lot of political interests outside of basketball. So, if the NFL can make that kind of leap in its perception and give players a little bit more respect, freedom and independence, then I think the protests themselves would go away.
Tags
Who is online
117 visitors
First of all, taking a knee is a sign of reverence, a show of respect. Players kneel when one of their own gets seriously injured. Soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave. It's a lot like flying a flag at half mast in the wake of a tragedy. In this case, the tragedy is the unjustified killings of citizens by the police. These players are simply showing solidarity with those who were unjustly killed. Even if you don't agree that this is worth protesting, those who do are not, in any way, disrespecting the flag, the anthem, or the country.
First of all, taking a knee is a sign of reverence, a show of respect.
Kaepernick explicitly said the opposite. But white liberals have decided what the protest really means, so who really cares that what the black man who started the protested thinks, right?
One of your better supported arguments yet! Such intricate reasoning and well marshaled facts!
Seriously, why are you afraid to let him speak for himself? Is he not smart enough? Does he lack agency? Do you know better than he does why he knelt??
Read what you wrote again. You are almost there. Focus on this part:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country."
He refused to stand because he did not want to “show pride in a flag for a country.” That’s what he said. Why Kaepernick’s believes the country and flag don't deserve his respect is beside the point. In his own words, he choose to kneel during the anthem to disrespect the flag and the country it symbolizes.
Your own citation proved my point. Maybe you should read it again.
Nothing like a sweeping generalization early in the morning : )
As a "white, somewhat conservative" I did not know what Kaepernick's sitting on the bench even meant that first night, and if I recall correctly neither did the announcers of that game … so then Kaepernick later took a knee - by this time most people had gotten the memo that this action was a protest of police shooting unarmed black men .. that turned into a competition to see which teams players could make the biggest PRODUCTION on the field of their protest against the flag, in protest against bad cops shooting black men ….. (Seattle did a nice job as a team, by standing together and locking arms as a show of unison support for the cause - I did not hear any backlash about their actions)
Simply my position, but I do not think that protesting a serious matter such as the shooting of unarmed black men by police officers .. should have ever become a show for the camera … Sorry razing, but the message got lost in the shuffle of "oneupsmanship"...! I quit watching football .. Directv lost a Sunday Ticket customer ...
It is far more than "white conservatives" that have an issue with what many see as disrespect for the flag - there is NO need to wrap oneself in it to have missed the 'point' that Kaepernick was flailing to make... He lost my support when as a role model to young people and an influence in many of their lives with his protest, chose not to use his voice in the form of a vote...!
Hope life in the southwestern heat is treating you well...
Peace....
Could not agree more … as long as that systemic discrimination is seen as 'being part of the nations DNA' [is that an excuse or a reason? sounds so written in stone] there can never be addressing of the core issues nor change... the metered disproportion will continue.
The so called discussing / talking I see happening is at each other, not to each other.. [in one ear and out the other - kinda thing]
Anytime … Soapbox loves a good work out in the morning : )
Awww but NO one can blend so many colors in one brush stroke like you can... : )
Amen!
Yet sadly - blame is the name of the game … there seems to be no way to escape it, blame dominates most every issue the United States [hell, even the world] is facing. If everyone involved in the conversation comes to the table on the defensive for fear of being blamed .. they are already distracted and the conversation is going nowhere rather quickly...
Conservatives seem to be confused by pride and respect. When a kid does something wrong, the parent is not proud, but neither does the parent disrespect the kid. The parent points out the problem. This is what players are doing; why is this so difficult to comprehend?
In football, taking a knee is the universal declaration of inactivity. It announces to everyone that you intend to do nothing.
Which means the players intend to do nothing. Which means they don't actually give a shit about whatever they're "protesting".
This is not how wealthy, prominent, influential, college-educated men affect change on matters they find important. It is not how any of these men have ever pursued any goal about which they actually cared. They didn't win the starting job on their HS team by "taking a knee". They didn't win a college scholarship by "taking a knee". They didn't make the NFL by "taking a knee". They achieved those things through dynamic action and enormous amounts of off-the-field effort.
If they really gave a shit about police brutality, they would pick up the phone and call the mayors of their cities and the governors of their states (who would GLADLY take the call). They would convince those people (it would take less than 30 seconds) to host symposiums and conferences where LEOs would analyze successful cities and form a set of universal best practices. They would urge legislation mandating those best practices, and demand measurable goals for improvement.
If they really gave a shit about social injustice, they would be using their platform to talk about how minority kids make up 37% of high school students overall, but only 18% of those who pass AP exams. They would be talking and Tweeting about the fact that black kids average 177 points lower on the SAT than white kids, and they would be meeting with Governors to demand action.
Now...the idea that exercising the very first right represented by our flag is somehow disrespectful to it ranks among the top 3 idiotic notions not actually supported by Bernie Sanders.
But if the players don't give a shit about their own "protest", why would I? (It isn't a protest, BTW. Protests have concrete demands which, if met, end the protest. This is a "tantrum".)
Riiiiight.
So do tell. Where is all this other activity taking place?
Oh my.
Except the NFL, with access to all the data, believes differently.
People stream games onto their phone. People go to sports bars and a hundred of people will all watch one tv.
Broadcast ratings will never be what they once were.
Who cares anyway? It is still the most popular sport on tv.
Trump made a big deal out of it to appeal to his "base" and to distract from his tsunami of other problems.
well sadly people dont care to remember that the ratings as of right now do not cover all forms of media that can be used NOW a days to view the NFL. And lets not forget about the tragic and horrible events that have occurred that includes fires, storms , hurricanes and tornadoes.
In the end, there are too many ways to watch anything you want. But tv contracts are already paid out its the stadium money that matters and i have found the faithful fan will watch live in person if they can afford too anyday vs watching there home team on tv.
SKOL VIKINGS!!
Who cares about these ungrateful primadonnas
i stopped watching football and basketball in 1990. I stopped watching baseball in 2008
none of them are worth it
Things are only worth it to the people that enjoy them. I think video games are boring, but millions are going to keep playing them. The major league baseball teams that are contenders draw 30,000 people or so to every game.
Who has time for sports or time with family and friends when you can be on NT all the time spouting off?
Not me. I come here in spurts. Next week I will traveling out of the US and won’t even think about this site
Badump bump...
That's clearly not true. If it were true then he could do it at some time other than the two minutes set aside to honor the country and the military. He could do it when teams are being introduced. He could do it during the coin toss. He could do it at halftime. He could do it instead of playing a series of downs. He could do it after the game.
When he chooses to do it is every bit as important and telling as what it is he is protesting. He even said so. Message received. Sorry if whiny babies don't like the reaction. Too bad.
It started because Kaperneck was pouting over being benched
Kaepernick chose to be a free agent.
i read a lot of the comments here and just have to shake my head at how entitled some comments make the ones that posted them appear.
these comments about kap and how his protest is not what it is. or how he shouldn't have started this because he is a football player and should do it on his own time.
your comments expose just how disconnected you appear vs the reality of how some of your fellow citizens are treated.
kap and those who do kneel are the reminder to white people that shit still happens to black people just because they are black.
sure it makes people uncomfortable and sure its annoying when white folks have to be reminded that a few cops act badily and another one was caught on tape.
But whats worse is shown right here by the response of some posting that just keep the wall up about not having to actually reflect on how it would suck to be a person who had to deal with unnecessary violence just because you are different.
thats this disconnect.
one of the best things that has exposed these bad acting cops is video. And now it is a choice for some white folks to either ACKNOWLEDGE how shitty is has to be to be a black man that ends up dead over a parking citation. There is a disconnect for some white folks who choose not to acknowledge how shitty it is because they dont have too. they dont have to worry about the one bad racist minded cop out of the good ones that decides to escalate a interaction with a citizen just because that person is black.
in many situations good cops dont have the power in there own police depts to effect change. And that makes the actions of bad cops stand out more because the changes needed cant be seen even with the positive efforts of those cops that WOULD try to change that culture.
There is nothing wrong with having the life you have and living the way some people do that allows for the reality of police brutality to not effect them. i surely am not suggesting that is the problem. i mean why should it matter, when a lot of folks who are far away from having to worry if someone they love wont make it home because a racist acting cops is scared of them. or the phone call of a loved one is in the hospital over being tazed by aggressive cops over a handicap parking spot.
it is all about taking the time to reflect on the what if. And due to the credit of video a lot of white people have, they have stood up and joined marches and demanded change in the culture of there own local police depts. But until you can recognize how you live sitting at your computer typing away about why cap is wrong, stop.
take a moment and check yourself based on what are the core values we teach kids in america, that every one is equal under the eyes of the law. That police officers are your friends and everyone is treated the same way and afforded the same rights under the law.
So lets give it a try, so you might be able to get a understanding on how frustrating it would be to run into that racist cop.
what if a cop doesnt like your last name and each time a member of your house leaves, they come home complaining about this one cop. But with no video your neighbors dont believe you and think you are being too sensitive because the cops do a great job. what if there was a cop that didnt like the address of your house, so each time you left your house and he noticed you, he would pull you over and run your plate and waste your time. And then when you went to the police station to talk with a supervisor they turned you away because they say you had to have done something for that officer to stop you each time.
my point is that yes there are good cops that do the job by the book and legally. But the few bad ones exist and they are real and disregard the book. and they disregard the procedures and polices. and they disregard the discipline we expect of them, just because they DO believe black people are not equal or worthy enough to invoke the legal standards or professionalism afforded to whites.
and if once a week on a national viewed opportunity a few players choose to remind there fellow citizens that there other fellow citizens are dying, assaulted ,bruised , injured by racist acting cops , i can appreciate that effort.
Any NFL player protesting is just ungrateful and insulting the fans that pay his big salary
deleted