KNEELING!

Just who is making the decisions at the NFL? Are they insane? Do they not have a shred of a pulse on what is happening and what has happened out there?

First off, let me be clear. I do not like Colin Kaepernick and do not understand anyone backing him up. The man depicted police as pigs on his socks and wore shirts kissing the rear end of the Castros. I believe that 99.9999999999% of men and women in uniform do their job well. They risk their lives every minute of every day on the job. Of course there are some bad ones. Of course, they should be fired, prosecuted and all that crap. But I believe many have used the actions of a few to paint the others with the broad brush. The fact is the men and women in uniform spend millions of hours every year protecting those same people who are pissed at them and do it gladly. They do it in crime-infested cities. Their families lose sleep during the long nights wondering whether they will make it through the night. They are heroes. They are not what some make them out to be.

I also vehemently disagree with those who kneel to the anthem and then say there is no disrespect. You mean you can’t think of one other thing to do to show your ire and anger? Of course there is but nothing like making yourself the story. That said, while I disagree, I respect 1st amendment rights  but also respect the rights of people to not show up for games and not watch the NFL any more. (Have you seen the empty seats? Have you seen the ratings?) I also respect the rights of business owners to not hire someone who tries to make themselves the story in a business that is defined by teams. Kaepernick would not play for my team.

But the NFL doesn’t have a clue. They had it all wrong. They have it all wrong and looks like they will continue to have it wrong. Hey NFL…it was over. At the end of last year, it had died down. By the end of the year, there was maybe a handful of players continuing to kneel. So what do you do? You tell these adult men to go into their caves (locker rooms) if they wanted to kneel. You tell them that if they act out, stiff penalties will be paid. Sure, this will end well. What do you think the outcome of telling grown men what to do or not do or else? Regardless of what side you are on, we are now already seeing owners defying the NFL by telling the teams they will pay any fines. We are already seeing the normal reaction of “oh yeah, take that!” We are already seeing the NFLPA fighting back. This move by the NFL will ensure the story will again be front and center, will again get louder, will again get many to react and will ensure more kneeling, more protests and more headaches for the NFL which has been mismanaged for quite a few years. (steroids, brain injuries, domestic violence and my Giants suck!) Instead of the story being football, we are now assured we are going back to square one on an issue that was going away.