Let Us Know What You Think!
The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Staff Reports
Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 03:55 PM
OUR VIEW: Sunday An Ugly Day Not Just For NFL, But For The Nation, As Goddell, Owners, Players Shame Themselves
On Sunday, more than 150
of America's wealthiest, most elite athletes refused to stand with their
fellow Americans for the playing of the national anthem. In coordinating
the protest and allowing it without penalty, the NFL embarrassed itself
in the process on an ugly day in sports history in this nation.
I like millions of other Americans sat and watch this despicable display
of anti-American sentiment of our country’s flag and grew angrier by
each television moment that captured different teams kneeling while the
national anthem was played in stadium after stadium. Three teams, the
Pittsburgh Steelers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Tennessee Titans,
elected to remain in the locker room while the anthem was playing. The
Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars stood for the British national
anthem in London, but sat and knelt while the American national anthem
was played.
The protests were supposedly in reaction to President Trump's tweets as
well as a speech Friday night in Alabama saying that NFL players who
protested the flag needed to be "fired." He added a few choice words
into the mix as only President Trump can by saying the owners needed to
get the "son of a $#$#" off the field who knelt instead of standing for
the national anthem. Maybe not the best choice of vernacular but one
things for sure - the nation and the NFL heard the message loud and
clear.
Trump's exact tweet was "If a player wants the privilege of making
millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not
be allowed to disrespect.......our Great American Flag (or Country) and
should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find
something else to do!"
Goodell responded to the President's comments not by encouraging his
players to respect their nation and themselves, but by slamming the
President's remarks as divisive and as a personal assault on the league
itself. What happened Sunday was backed 100% by the commissioner for
which he along with the rest of the buffoons on the field Sunday should
be ashamed of themselves.
Even Patriot QB Tom Brady called the President’s criticism ‘divisive’
and arrogantly backed Goddell's claim that the President’s words
suggested what he called an “unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL,
our great game, and all of our players.”
The commissioner’s use of the word “respect” is laughable being neither
he nor his league understand the what the word means. Neither he nor his
ass hat spoiled pieces of garbage on the field understand the true
meaning of the word.
One thing I can assure the entire league, We the people have lost ALL
respect for you and for the most part the American people DO know what
true respect means.
Respect?? Respect for what Roger? Overpaid, whiny, ignorant, morons who
work 16 days a year for millions of dollars in a free nation which they
disrespect even though it has allowed them the privilege to make the
money they do??
In our view the President was merely confronting this disrespectful
chaos in the league that has gone on now for two years, while calling
out NFL owners and leaders who have been cowards in refusing to stop it
among their players. Yes, without a doubt as always, he could have done
without the vernaculars.
He could have even saved this gunfire for another time with so many
other things going on in Washington D.C. and the world that makes this
NFL garbage pale in comparison. He could have done all those things but
he didn't. He lit the fire and shined a bright light on the motives and
hearts of a league of thugs that trash players of faith but glorify
players who are racists and bigots themselves.
When former Bronco and Patriot QB Tim Tebow knelt on the sidelines a few
years back to pray during a game the same league pounced on the young
man claming that expressions of faith had no place in the league and
were offensive to those who didn't have the same fiber as the Christian
young man from Florida. The outrage among the liberal media was loud and
clear. "Praying on the football field has no place in sports."
Then there was the Dallas Cowboys last year who merely wanted to place
the badge numbers of the fallen police officers in the Dallas ambush
from earlier in the year on their jerseys to honor their memory. The
league said no to that too citing the "sensitivity" of the matter among
those who looked unfavorably on the police. In addition, when former and
the now unemployed San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick wore socks
depicting cops as pigs, the league was silent.
Then in the same breath of allowing the cop-hating socks and pushing
these demonstrations this weekend, the same league fines a player who
scores a touchdown and celebrates in the end zone.
Then there is what I term the thuggery issue. There are so many NFL
players with rap sheets at this very moment in 2017 they could fill the
entire cast for a modern remake of the "Godfather" movies. Murderers,
wife beaters, and drug dealers are all allowed to do their thing on
Sunday but God forbid a man of faith say a prayer on the sideline.
Tim Tebow showed the league the only true reason ANY player should take
a knee in this league during pre-game ceremonies - to thank God they
have this privilege and honor to have be blessed with the skills and
health Him to play this once great game that millions still love.
However, because of things that happened this past Sunday so many are
now turning away from it in droves.
This is the face and state of the 2017 National Football League. A
league dug itself a deeper hole of dung Sunday in front of the whole
world only to have their leader Monday proclaim that he was "proud of
our league and players more than he has ever been."
Back to Trump. The NFL elites and other sports figures, many who, along
with the liberal media hate him anyway, the President's words were
divisive. For a large majority of the American people however, most felt
it was long overdue to hear someone call this madness out and confront
it.
Goddell and his ignorant gang of crayon users in the media were just
taken aback to believing it was just out of bounds for the leader of our
nation to ask our country’s most successful athletes and visible role
models to honor our anthem, our flag, and our country. Does anyone other
than me believe that is not asking too much from people who make this
type money for playing sports?
The President was more than right to say the NFL’s leadership is an
embarrassment and a disgrace. He could have said it better but he was
right in his assessment.
Let us regress a bit and explain how all this mess began.
The real "divisive" individual in this ordeal is not President Trump,
it's Goddell himself. He's the one who allowed Kaepernick to first
insult our flag and the values of our country last year seeking to
demonstrate his perceived view that law enforcement in this nation is
racist. He called both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton racists. He saw
the entire world as racist.
This came on the heels and went back to the 2015 handling of the
Ferguson riots by the Obama-Holder justice department that spilled over
into sports.
This led to the St. Louis Rams at the time walking out of the tunnel
throwing their hands up in support of the infamous, and found to be a
complete lie, "hands up don't shoot" narrative that was spun by those
claiming the now dead and late thug Michael Brown never did anything to
warrant his criminal self being shot by the police. It was a tragic loss
of a young man’s life, but it was not the police’s fault for what
happened. Mr. Brown engaged in criminal and dangerous behavior and it
cost him his life. He was not some innocent bystander the cops targeted
for execution. He willfully sought to grab a police officer’s gun after
being caught robbing a store. That is never going to end well.
Shortly after this however, Kaepernick then became the point man for the
left’s efforts to codify and promote their hatred of cops on the grid
iron and, as they say, the rest is sad history.
This sad history came to a such an ugly and disgusting head Sunday I
felt like I needed a bath while watching the Falcons-Lions game.
Here's the bottom line. Anyone, including spoiled NFL and NBA players,
has a right to protest and do whatever they wish. We live in a free
country. But just because you're free to do something doesn't make it
morally right and mean you should do it.
We're free to scream profanity at nuns, but in the interest of decency
and being a human being, most of us have the sense enough to know that's
not something we should do.
These idiots on the field Sunday had no clue how stupid they looked to
the American public because in their minds they were "justified" to do
what they were doing. So be it. No argument from here on the players’
right to do what they did. This is America. President Trump was not even
insinuating they didn’t have the right to protest. What he was saying is
they needed to realize the consequences of disrespecting the national
anthem and our nation in their actions.
However, if we say the players had the right to protest, then we must
also acknowledge President Trump had the 100% right to say what he
wanted to about the protests both in his speech and in his tweets.
The same rule of thumb of common sense also applies to him. Just because
you can and need to say it, does not necessarily mean you should.
That is up for debate in the halls of public opinion today. For me,
other than the SOB part of his speech, I had no problem with anything he
said.
Someone needed to say it and thank God, we have a President who isn't
afraid to.
The media and Hillary Clinton were busy Monday casting doubt in the
public's mind that President Trump's comments were somehow "racist"
since they were directed at black football players. Seems to me that
there are plenty of white folks who play in the NFL as well as the NBA
too. He wasn't singling out players individually, he was singling out
the owners who allowed these players to trash our nation.
Then there is we the people. We have a 100% right to walk away from the
NFL and let our voices be heard too. Many in America woke up Monday mad
as hell about what went down Sunday and said "we're not going to take it
anymore."
You Tube is full of videos today showing people burning thousands of
dollars of NFL jerseys and memorabilia that has been in closets and on
mantles for years. Not any more.
While the league's actions Sunday was in many ways a middle finger to
millions of Americans who love football, the actions of these players
were also a middle finger to the memory of the hundreds of thousands of
fallen soldiers who fought and died defending the very flag and national
anthem these players scorned by kneeling. When you see a wife, daughter,
son or husband kneeling beside a dead coffin of a veteran, that is why
we stand – always!
There will never be reason to disrespect a flag or anthem so many have
shed blood to protect and defend. Stand for the flag, kneel for the
Cross. That statement will be eternally true.
I wish I could say Sunday was the end of this. I can't. The NFL players’
union announced Monday they want the whole month of November to be a
“month of protest against the police by all NFL teams. If they do this,
Goodell and the privileged player-protester elitists, will further dig
themselves a deeper hole that may destroy a once great game that
millions used to enjoy watching.
Showing two photos of NFL players from Sunday in a side by side screen,
Fox’s Lou Dobbs asked Monday night, “Which would you rather have your
child emulate, the player on the left or the right? Odell Beckham
pretending to urinate in the end zone like a dog or Alejandro
Villanueva, who stood tall when all of his teammates were weak-kneed and
cowardly and cowered in the locker room.” Beckham said later Sunday that
gesture was directed at President Trump. Lovely.
What Beckham sadly didn’t realize, is that gesture was also directed at
millions of American football fans watching in disgust as well.
Villanueva's jersey sales sky rocketed early Monday after he was the
only Steeler to stand during the anthem despite anger from his coach
Mike Tomlin and teammates. He caved into the pressure Monday issuing a
statement that he "threw his teammates under the bus by doing what he
did."
Lovely courage Alejandro. You can stand against enemy bullets but you
cave to politically correct pressure and betray your nation for the sake
of your job. Courageous. You didn’t throw your teammates under the bus
by standing for the anthem and flag. You threw America under the bus by
apologizing.
Some have argued this is just sports. Some say that President Trump made
way too big an issue of it, creating a distraction from the real issues,
at a time when we’re challenged by devastating disasters and murderous
rogue regimes. All that may be true to a point. It seems President Trump
likes to meddle in things sometimes he’d be best to leave alone. It’s
called being President. ALL have done the same thing.
I'd argue however, that if someone in power doesn’t stand up to the
left's attacks on our national heritage and history of a great, albeit
non-perfect nation, there will be no America as we know it very soon.
This $#$#$ has got to stop. You can fill in the blank there. I'm trying
hard to write as a professional but it’s not easy right now because of
the anger I feel over what went down Sunday.
And then there is the bigger picture issue of what message this is
sending to the youth and millions of kids who look up to these NFL
players.
Just two days ago an 8-year-old pee-wee league football team from
Belleville, IL, was forced by their coaches to kneel during the national
anthem, emulating the NFL players. There have been numerous other
incidents of this over the past year in several little league and high
school football programs.
So far it hasn’t touched the college field and I pray to God it doesn’t.
It seems the college game is the last bastion of hope we have for being
able to watch the purity of the game without all the political BS.
It’s deeply troubling however that pee-wee football players were forced
to kneel, being indoctrinated against the national values, at least
those most all of us treasure, that have made us free and successful as
a nation. I hope the NFL players are proud of the example they set this
weekend for the thousands of little ones who look up to them. The entire
NFL bag of degenerates should take a bow. They did their left leaning
loon friends proud. (Shaking my head in disgust)
That’s why our President had to challenge the failure of leadership on
the part of the NFL. Because now, this has become more than just a game
of touchdowns and field goals.
It’s become an ugly political machine the left is now using to promote a
hate American agenda. Frankly, it's just ugly and it feels ugly to even
think about having to stomach much more of this each week.
A dear neighbor from my youth days in Attapulgus, Georgia told me late
Sunday night, "I don't tune in to [sports] to worry about politics," he
said. "I just want to see people play the game and yell and scream for
my team. It was hard to do that Sunday. I felt sick inside."
He took the words right out of my mouth.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich believes kneeling players have
sent sports down a slippery slope that will ultimately lead to the
anthem no longer being played at games. "I suggest they give all their
after-tax income and give it to some left-wing nutcase group," but leave
the national anthem and our flag alone!
"If you're a multimillionaire who feels oppressed, you need a therapist
[and] not a publicity stunt," Newt added. While I say “Amen” to what
Newt said I would take one small issue with what these millionaires
should do with their money.
Most of the teams are based in high crime ridden cities.
So maybe instead of giving their money to left wing nutcase groups,
these millionaires should create a fund that helps the young black men
who think they are targeted by mentoring them, teaching them
self-respect, and how to behave to not become a crime statistic. Why not
set up a scholarship fund to reward them for staying in school and
helping with college. Do something that will make a change!
Football is only played for 60 minutes on Sunday. A troubled life that
can be saved and changed for the good will affect all eternity! That is
how you protest injustice!
The NFL does need to take a knee.
It needs to kneel and pray while searching for its soul to find it’s
character once again that once made the game it produces the best in
America.
What we all saw Sunday was not even close to that. This is to be
continued.
What Each Team Did To Protest The National Anthem Sunday
.jpg)
Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge
Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Subscribe To The Great Smoky
Mountain News Network Tube Channel
44 Players Above Have Been Accused of Sexual Assault/Misconduct. It was MORE than OK To Have Many of These Players Take A Knee On The Field Sunday
But When THIS Man took a knee, the League Said "There's No Place For This in The NFL"