We Need to Talk About the NFL National Anthem Protests
There was a ton of things that happened in the sports world this weekend, and I will cover it all this week. But today, I have to talk about the biggest thing, and that was the mass protests prior to kickoffs at all the NFL games this weekend.
I LOVED all the protests that happened. When that moron came out and called Colin Kapernick a "son of a bitch" at a rally in Alabama, that was one of the lowest marks in American history. This golfing oaf goes to one of the most racist states in America, holds a rally, which is insane, and calls out an African American that was using his free speech better than most. I thought that was going to set all social media ablaze, but after Steph Curry said that he wouldn't visit the White House, after KD and Andre Iguodala had already said the same, that dip shit says some of the most childish shit I have ever heard. He "rescinded" the invite before it was even given out, and he took to Twitter to do it.
First off, cancel this douchebag's Twitter account. People have been thrown off Twitter for much, much less. All this orange piece of human garbage does is incite hate on your website. Suspend his account. And like a child that has been told that a friend of his or hers is not coming to party and says, "I didn't want them here anyway", that is exactly what this asshole, racist blob of flesh did. He is the mean guy or girl from high school. He is the frat boy that gets upset when he gets rejected and talks behind that person's back. He is the guy at your job that NO ONE wants to hang out with. He is THE WORST.
I was so happy to see all the love and support that Steph Curry got from athletes and all other people across the world. Everyone was stomping on the monster that presides, when he isn't golfing or staying at one of his tacky ass hotels, in the White House. A lot of athletes came to Curry's defense, but LeBron's was the best. He called him a "bum", and said, "it was an honor to come to the White House until you got there". He dunked all over that hateful piece of trash. It was glorious.
After the big time backlash for pulling the invite, later in the day, the UNC men's basketball team that won the tournament last year also declined their invite. Woo Hoo! Again, I was thrilled. This horrible person in office craves the support and attention from athletes, and they are spitting in his face, and I couldn't be happier. The Pittsburgh Penguins had to be the one downer, saying they'd go to the White House, but then I remembered that hockey is stupid and filled with idiotic white guys. No one cares about hockey or NASCAR or any white trash sport. The fact that the NFL, NBA and now even the MLB are coming out against this "administration" is truly great. With all the Steph Curry and LeBron James and the NBA making statements saying that they will not only accept, but stand behind people that protest, I was very happy.
Then the whole "son of a bitch" stuff came back up. After that failed business man attacked Curry and James, again on Twitter, he said some BS about any player that "kneels during the anthem should be suspended or fired", I was so stoked to see the response. I had to work yesterday, but I was able to follow all the anthem protests via my phone, and boy were they plentiful. The Ravens and Jags started off the day with the majority of the players kneeling during the anthem. We were off to a great start. Then, the Steelers upped the ante, by all of the players, excluding one veteran, staying in the locker room for the anthem. From there on out, it was a sea of players sitting, kneeling or locking arms. Hardly anyone had their hands on their hearts during the anthem. Again, I was so happy to see these millionaires taking a big, big stand. Even guys like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers participated in the protests. This was great. After a ton of NFL players took to Twitter to bad mouth the guy Russia got to be "president", they took to the field and showed their solidarity for each other, and protested this hateful and hurtful "government". Hell, even Robert Kraft, Shad Khan and Rex Ryan came out and chastised this oaf, and they all supported him.
As I stepped back and watched and was thrilled at what I was seeing, I did have a few things that crept into my mind that I wished had happened in addition to the mass protests. I wanted every NFL player to kneel. I'm fine with the locking of arms, and I love the sitting down, but I wished every single player took a knee. That would have been awesome. I was also upset at ESPN for giving Rex Ryan a lane to talk abut someone that he supported, but they tried to drag Jemele Hill's name through the mud for saying the same things on her personal Twitter account. They can't just pick and choose when they want someone to do what they say. And a little part of me wanted all the teams to protest like the Steelers. That would have been amazing. But all in all, I was very happy with what I saw yesterday from the NFL, for the most part. People always say, "don't mix sports and politics", but now is the perfect time to do this. Sports figures are more famous than ever, and they hold a ton of weight with younger generations. I love that they are showing young kids that it is okay to rebel against what most of the country considers a hurtful, hateful, racist, homophobic and Islamophobic "government". I've been incredibly embarrassed to be an American for 8 months now, but with these athletes, owners and commissioners coming to the support of their players yesterday, it was a step in the right direction.
Lets keep it up. Lets keep fighting. With good people making good choices and fighting for the right things, we can be better. Hell, we could even return to some kind of normalcy if we keep fighting the injustices that the current "government" keeps trying to push on us. Lets keep getting our voice out there. Keep protesting and keep fighting.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. For the very first time in his entire sports writing life, he is on the same side as Roger Goodell. Trump is so bad that he made Ty and Goodell agree on something.
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