Months after the NFL passed an anthem policy without players’ input — one that appeared to reignite the issue and please few in the process — the NFLPA’s grievance caused the league to pump the brakes on it. Now, the old policy is in place after the NFL and the union agreed to resume talks on the issue.
Some new developments surfaced Friday. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross attempted to navigate the PR damage his team’s anthem policy — potentially a four-game suspension for players who kneel during the song’s playing, news of which broke before the NFL-NFLPA’s joint statement emerged Thursday night — by saying this course of action was merely a placeholder.
“We were asked to submit a form to the NFL on our overall discipline policy prior to the start of the rookie report date. The one-line sentence related to the national anthem was a placeholder as we haven’t made a decision on what we would do, if anything, at that point,” Ross said in a statement (Twitter link).
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch also discussed this issue, coming out on the players’ side of the discussion. Tisch said, via Marc Malkin of the Hollywood Reporter, Giants players will not be disciplined for protesting during the anthem. However, it’s not known if the Giants’ better-known co-owner, the influential John Mara, is fully on board.
“We support our players,” Tisch said. “They are not going to be punished. There is not going to be any punitive action taking place against them.”
President Donald Trump (Twitter link) resurfaced with thoughts on this issue, which has become one of his frequent talking points. Perhaps rhetorically, Trump asked if it was “in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart?” No such language exists in any player’s contract. Trump also suggested the NFL first suspend players who kneel during the anthem before calling for Roger Goodell to suspend protesters without pay for the season were they to do so a second time.
The Dolphins’ leaked placeholder policy did not prompt the sides to issue their joint statement Thursday night, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports, adding both sides hope this resolved before Week 1. Maske reports an arbitrator also was not required to produce Thursday’s statement scrapping May anthem policy, pointing out the league and the union have engaged in dialogue since the June grievance emerged.
The NFLPA, not the Players Coalition, is overseeing the talks with the NFL this time, Maske reports.
“I know there have been conversations about the grievance. But in terms of sitting down to talk about a resolution with players being involved, there hasn’t been anything yet,” Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, part of the NFLPA’s ruling executive committee, told Maske. “That’s the whole purpose, to have some face-to-face conversations about this. That’s what’s in the works now.”
just let it go. WTF does it really matter
Can we just stop talking about this and focus on the game. If you care that much about this you need to sort out your priorities.
Yeah, somebody needs to sort out their priorities all right. Mainly fat, stupid people who can’t tolerate or respect the opinions of others. If you’re a Trump supporter (still), this means you.
Preach!!!!
I’m just glad that the “President” has all of his legal and political troubles solved, both domestically and abroad so that he may weigh in on an issue desperately needing the opinion of a fat, rich, corrupt, old immoral white guy
Ah yes…..insulting people who don’t agree with your opinion….that will fix this!
Maybe he learned this behavior from 45
Maybe he doesnt…
Maybe he has a personal axe to grind with the NFL since the USFL days when he owned a team. And that ONE dollar settlement with the NFL still gets to him. Now that he is Mr President, he can damage the NFL image to extract some form of revenge?
link to fortune.com
Don’t care who he learned it from….point remains the same….insulting people will never get anyone to understand your opinion.
Ah the tolerant left. And you idiots wonder why you keep losing
Gerrymandering. The word is getting. And colluding with a foreign enemy.
You mean losing the popular vote?? LOL
Losing the popular vote due to illegal aliens and stuff ballot boxes with dead people votes…the left still lost…liberals are pathetic…sellout their own citizens to stay in power
i would like to point out that every election might be different if popular vote actually mattered. its not fair to say “so and so won popular vote, so they should be president” when thats not how its decided. democrats would campaign more in conservative states and republicans in liberal states. for example there is no reason for a republican to campaign in california. they are not winning, so wether they get 100 votes or a little less than half the total votes they lose all of the electoral votes. so why waste resources on a lost state. their strategy would be different if it was decided by popular vote
And here we have a member of the Macho Right who end up pissing in their pants when players protest. Good times.
Still, Macho Right douchecanoes can’t figure out why they’re insulted online.
Can you guys make a separate website called profootballpoliticsrumors.com or something? I understand that politics will be a part of football until our current chief executive goes away, but the vast majority of us have no interest either way. Could care less if they stand, sit, stay in the locker room, play the anthem, don’t play the anthem. It means almost nothing to me. Nobody in the stands pays attention during the anthem, nobody at home, nobody anywhere until the chief executive had to make this a perpetual front-page news story.
If only there were a way to avoid reading these articles. Wait, there is. Don’t read these articles. Phew, that was a difficult problem to solve
Agreed. This one was posted for clicks. It’ll start/stir a bunch of offensive comments, only to be reminded of the commenting policy.
Trump.. nvm.. *mutter*
1. This is a Labor/Management/Owner topic. Let them figure it out.
2. We do have a Constitution that allows for, heck, guarantees our freedom to express ourselves in a responsible manner. This is a responsible manner. Sure, controversial, but it is responsible.
Mind your own business Mr USFL Owner (and still upset at the NFL because your league failed)
Simple, just ignore the communists who protest.
or the communists that enforce conforming vs freedom of expression?
Remember, the guy screamin’ and hollerin’ at the NFL is rather cozy with a certain Communist leader, much to the dismay of many.
Just like everyone ignores the Browns! Sounds perfect!
There needs to be a league wide policy suspending players who politicize the anthem. That’s the only solution to end this issue. Protest on your own time, not at your place of work and while on the clock
Gotta agree with RedBird… time and place for everything…. and during the anthem is not it!
What kind of a terrorist would stand for an anthem of a country that thought Donald Trump should be president?
Let them do whatever they want, just stop putting them on camera. Problem solved.
The sob’s absolutely have the right to kneel during the anthem. We have the right to continue watching or to turn the tv off. I chose to turn it off last year. Should be interesting to see whether I’ll be watching the nfl this season. Doubt it.
Doubt they will miss you or any you “that supposedly turned it off”
Got to love how all the comments are people complaining about the topic and calling for a ban on “politics”, yet nothing forced any of you to click on the article. That’s how you know you’re a democrat. Incapable of rational thought.
It’s absurd to believe there is any relationship between hosting/attending a sporting event and patriotism. The national anthem has a place in the military services where people are actually making a meaningful difference. Time to end all the phoney posturing at these stadiums and dispense with the anthem there.
Why do we need the National Anthem at a football game anyway?
Stop Playing It!
Problem Solved!