Colin Kaepernick started it, and it should’ve ended with him.
A unique and novel silent protest that actually took weeks for the media to notice – Colin sitting down during the pre-NFL game American national anthem, which quickly evolved from a sit down to a more diluted knee down.
When the media eventually noticed it, it ignited, and ignited royally, where recent articles claim that studies and polls have revealed significant double-digit percentage drop offs of viewership of NFL games.
American football and the NFL have been my favourite sport and league for the past five years, and this year it has left a sour taste in my mouth. I have the least amount of anticipation and excitement for the start of this year’s NFL season that I can remember.
I love the NFL for its ferocity, for its intensity, its strategical Battleship game and carrier fleet similarities. The aircraft carrier is the coveted quarterback, its mine sweeping and protective submarines are its offensive linesmen.
The aircraft and pilots their wide receivers, and the wily and seasoned Admiral as its coach. I love the NFL for its fierce cast of characters who are amped.
I love the NFL for its drama, on and off the field, and essentially for it being the last remaining, truly gladiatorial football code and sport on the planet.
It is like Game of Thrones, almost antiquated due to its violent nature in this the most politically correct and anti-violent sensitive era in humanity. Yet the NFL has, like Game of Thrones, has flourished in recent years, until now.
Personally, I am absolutely sick and tired of these NFL protests, the national anthem sit-downs, and arms and fists raised in the air, or a knee to the ground. I am a lifelong 49ers fan and was thrown like everybody else when Kaepernick started his sit-down protests.
I personally was a little perplexed and disappointed, because I am very patriotic towards America which has been my home for the past 12 years. However, as an admirer and fan of Colin’s for many years, I respected the fact that he took a stand, and had the freedom of expression to do so.
As a once-off stand and protest, that should have been it, and rightly so.
Colin got the attention and visibility that the action warranted, as it had never been done before, and that’s where my respect came from. However, as it went on for weeks and weeks and months, it became a side show and a massive distraction to the game it preceded. I started to lose respect for the protest and for him.
I continued to tune in to watch my favourite sport of American football, and my favourite brand of American football, the NFL, and my favourite franchise, the 49ers, however I was done with Colin and his protest. To initiate such a protest once and get away with it, was intriguing, inspiring, clever and novel.
(AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
And now, a year on, he is in trouble as a result of his prolonged protest throughout last season, currently unemployed, and I am not surprised. I have very little sympathy, because as I have commentated on in the past, when you are a high profile athlete and you choose to deviate away from your sporting celebrity cocoon there will be consequences.
For example, if you date a high profile actor, or a celebrity like a Kardashian, you need to be cognoscente of the fact that you are opening yourself up (right or wrong) to the ultimate scrutiny, and heightened criticism, and the most extreme unforgiving reviews of your work on the field.
When you do what Colin did and keep it up every week, and it becomes a major focus of your work day on the field, you are then adding triple and quadruple the scrutiny and critique of your level and quality of playing.
When Colin’s level and quality of play did deteriorate, the ramifications of his actions were amplified and quadrupled; and there were consequences, in sync with those ramifications. Colin signed a $100-million contract a few years ago, and now is unemployed and a football and NFL pariah.
Even Michael Vick who went to jail for his dogfighting indiscretions, was an ex-convict, emerged from jail, and redeemed himself and secured, another $100-million contract. So, you know Colin’s predicament is a grave one.
Now you have politically correct crusaders like ESPN’s Max Kellerman, who I largely respect for his very progressive and open-minded perspective on sports and athletes, who is condemning white NFL players for not supporting Kaepernick.
Are you kidding me? And I say that because Colin was not protesting issues relating to the NFL, he was making a stand about the state of the union. If he was making a stand about an NFLPA / union issue, then yes Max you have every right to call out his fellow players.
However Colin is making a very general and broad stance about the social and economic injustices in America. And he suffered a very severe consequence, which is potentially the end of his career. His former teammates and other NFL compatriots have zero obligation to risk their contracts and livelihood, supporting Colin’s cavalier season long protest.
Max wants and expects other players, particularly white players, to come out and support him.
I wouldn’t advocate for any players coming out and supporting him, regardless of race.
This is not because I am demonising Colin Kaepernick, I think he is a deserved starter in a second or third tier NFL team.
This is not a matter that is related to an injustice to the NFL or the NFLPA, as most players in the NFL, in fact 70 per cent, are African American.
This league and the platforms it provides, is not a stage for voicing your personal and social opinions, religious beliefs, or any private biases and objections, and that is specifically stated in the very contracts that players have signed and live on, brokered by their union, the NFLPA.
Now we have Marshawn Lynch and other players doing the same before the 2017 season has even begun.
I am sick of it, and have no interest in their agenda, even if it is related to current events like the sad and tragic and disturbing racist clashes going on.
I care deeply about these clashes and the racial tensions, and they are inexcusable on the part of supremacists anyone supporting them.
These terrible and tragic events, along with terrorism, and the tragic and saddening daily events of the world are inescapable.
This is what I see, am shocked by, and look for updates on when I go to news sites and even when I check my social media. They are inescapable and overwhelming at every turn, and on every social media and news outlets worldwide.
They do not need any further promotion or heightened visibility to get my attention, my concern, my sympathy and empathy.
When I tune in to the big game, I do not need my attention to be corralled towards thinking about the day’s tragic events in this complicated and convoluted world when I tune in to watch a football game, or any other program for that matter.
This is why I feel so compelled to write this article. There are about 1,700 players in the NFL across 32 teams. Can you imagine hundreds of these players making a protest during the national anthem and venting issues such as racism, abortion, education, healthcare, and so on. What happened to the football?
I am sure that 90 per cent of these 1,700 players are passionate about some sort of injustice in our world and local communities. Why is the national anthem now a blank canvass to be desecrated with the personal issues and objections of professional athletes; who by the way, most ironically are exempt from the very protests they are voicing because of their stature of being football players.
In the same way that a Game of Thrones cast member would turn to the camera and voice their protest about a social issue (only to obviously be edited out and never see the light of day on a HBO broadcast), and exploit the power of the distribution avenues and visibility of their employers’ pipelines and their audience, this and these protests by NFL players should be ignored and not publicised.
Furthermore, the players in breach should be sanctioned. Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, threatened to fire any of his players who sat for the anthem, and quite rightly so.
These performers, be they actors, or professional football players, are highly paid lottery winners, and to do this on company time, aggravating large chunks of their audience, who pay to see them perform, versus hearing their gripes about issues, is an insult to everyone, including their bosses, and coworkers who may not agree with them or their timing or choice of platforms to express themselves.
As I said, these lottery winners have social media channels with millions of followers and should exploit and utilise those personal channels, rather than using company resources.
mushi
Guest
As to sources for systemic racism in the US: https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&q=systemic+racism+and+united+states&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=&oq=systemic+racism I will admit I didn’t read any of the “about” 103,000 academic papers but given you are so keen to get to the bottom of it I’m sure you will plough through. For lighter reading Freakonomics covered it off also.
mushi
Guest
I will also correct you on your inaccuracy, at least in my case. My objection is twofold First that the author believes more in the sanctity of a song than the actual ideals that the nation is supposed to reflect. This is actually the foreign issue with the US at the moment, it has forgotten their raison d’etre. The constructed outrage that this is somehow a swipe at the armed forced who give their lives for their country (despite many decades having past since a US military serviceman died in actual defence of the United States of America) when the back ground to the entirely peaceful demonstration is well known and actually supports the ideal that lives are supposed to matter. This article is literally saying the anthem is more important than the ideals upon which the country was founded. The second is supporting the economic marginalisation of a person by an institution which is viewed a social good, and is hence protected from many anti-trust laws, because they exercised their first amendment rights. The NFL is not typical private enterprise, a fact it has argued to congress, and as such should not be behaving in a manner which encourages the constitution of the USA not attempted to pervade it.
mushi
Guest
Okay so what you believe is that criminality is inherently an African American trait and that the disproportion could not possibly be due to social marginalisation (a widely accepted contribtuor to crime)?
mushi
Guest
I find that you find this well thought out remarkable.
Nate
Guest
Also, forgot to respond to your other point. https://www.facebook.com/officialraylewis/videos/10154098587720701/
Nate
Guest
Can I just recommend you watch '13th' MrRealist. It's an interesting look at the move from slavery to mass criminalisation of black people. It might help to change some of those attitudes. Also, if you think that blacks have the same education and work opportunities as many whites then you are very mistaken. The playing field is not level and never has been. Add that to voting rights being stripped after above discussed sentencing discrepancies and many people feel no other way out. Do all these things make black on black violence right? No, but they can certainly help to explain where we are.
MrRealist_81
Guest
Quite the opposite....I have never liked Trump but thank you for labeling me without knowing who I am. Since you have brought disproportionate, lets look at some facts: Roughly 14,000 homicides in USA every year Approximately 50% are committed by African Americans 90% of those committed by African Americans are on other African americans Have a guess what proportion of the population African americans make up? When was the last time you remember seeing this highlighted by a professional sports star?
Nate
Guest
Just one example, disproportionate sentencing for similar crimes between black and white Americans. Minor drug crime sentencing hugely affects miorities while I personally have seen white guys who can't stop sticking coke up their nose despite chance after chance. I'm guessing you just want America to be great again!
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Read up on the justice system and compare the incarceration rates, length of sentences and parole rates of blacks and whites for the same crime. Black people are wrongfully convicted at a rate 12 times higher then white people The ratio of unarmed black people shot and/or killed by police is much higher then unarmed white people. Also, those officers that shoot and/or kill white people are held accountable at a much higher rate than those that shoot and/or kill black people All this information and supporting evidence is easily found. I suggest you do some research
MrRealist_81
Guest
I find the outrage to this article remarkable. The author has written a well thought-out article on his opinion with the protests and how it effects the image of the game in general. He has acknowledged player's rights and freedoms to protest and to make a statement. Correct me if I am wrong, but the general objection to the author in the comments is that America is a racist country and African- Americans are subjected to continued racism. I challenge any roar commentator to show me where, in 2017, there is any form of systematic racism in the USA? Individual cases will always exist and there are laws to prevent that, but before the outrage is dialled up to maximum, show me the facts of what CK was protesting about?
Paul
Guest
Nate
Guest
This article is a joke and represents many of the same disgusting attitudes that have been around since this issue raised it's head. Colin raised awareness of a serious issue, has put his own time and money into working with both police and young people in his area, and has held himself with dignity and respect whilst being attacked mercilessly. The fact he hasn't got a job has nothing to do with his ability, it's because people find it an uncomfortable truth.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
As usual, mushi says it better then me
no one in particular
Roar Guru
yep, athletes should only speak when we pay them to , whether it be selling us a sports drink or a new car. We should never hear from them, or this case not hear them, when they raise the issue of social injustices. After all, they only exist for our entertainment. The only time they should speak up is when they speak of issues I agree with. *sigh* now let me go back to my pretty ivory tower
mushi
Guest
So you think he shoudl protest but not in a visible way? I'm sure he did know the risk, the risk is too many white conservative owners don't like the help stepping out of line. You compare what he's doing to Ben Cousins, Todd Carney and Stephen O'Keefe despite the litanny of NFL players that have done worse than those guys and remained celebrated and well paid. Your attempt to build an equivlance actually higlights what is worng with your argument. Yes many American's don't like it but sacking them for this issue would be incredibly brave as you'd be taking on the constituion. It would highlight what Kapernick is trying to say, many American's regard celebrating the symbolism of what the nation is suppsoed to be as more important than restorting the ideals that the anthem and other symbolism is supposed to represent.
Peeeko
Guest
Slightly different types of image problems
AGordon
Guest
There are 2 completely different aspects to this issue which need to separated and examined. The first is the player's right to protest. This neither cannot or should not be denied BUT.... the player needs to think about all aspects of their actions both from a personal perspective and also from a "bang for buck" point of view. If Kapernick had any brains, he would have made his point by sitting down during the anthem till the media picked up on it, then put forward all the points he was trying to make. He then should have had a plan to further his protest off the sporting field, ie organize marches, attend rallies, etc. What he did instead was to alienate himself and therefore his issues from both the media and the public. My impression is most Americans ( who care), think his continued disrespectful actions demean America and that is not the message he's trying to get across. He needs to rethink his strategy, to get better "bang for buck". The second issue is all about money. The NFL grossed 13 billion dollars last year and all owners are extremely aware of ANY action that might tarnish the brand. Jerry Jones and the other owners couldn't give a damn about a players actions UNLESS they negatively impact on the team. I'm sure guys have been sacked for a whole lot less than this Kapernick issue, simply because the owners fear a drop in revenue. This again is where Kapernick has let himself down. He could have gone down a different path with his protest, which owners probably would have endorsed IF it did not harm the brand. As it is, he is too high risk to employ, because an owner can't be sure he won't hurt the team's image. It has zero to do with whether he's playing well or not. It's important to note Australia is not immune to this type of thing. Ben Cousins, Todd Carney and Stephen O'Keefe spring to mind from the past few years. All very gifted at the individual sports but all with image/brand problems.
mushi
Guest
Yep that sounds about right for aguy who lists former Fifa agent in his bio. Symoblism over morality.
matt dustby
Guest
Who are you to tell athletes not to protest. johnny come lately. if your people were the victims of centuries of systematic oppression than maybe you would let them protest and raise awareness. You go down the southern part of Chicago and see what these people are protesting about.