Tell this kid's family that piece of cloth is more important than their 12-year old boy. And I'd be happy to.
Standing/kneeling/sitting during the anthem has absolutely jack and squat to do with one's respect for country.
I'm feeling somewhat sorry for starting this thread. It has opened my eyes to how the younger members of this community view our country and what it stands for. I feel sorry for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I will probably be dead in 5 to 10 years and will no longer be a witness to how this country is devolving but my offspring will still have to endure it. For now, I have made my decision. I will no longer support nor follow the NFL. I cannot find it within myself to support an organization that profits from patriotism (thank you SAS for that little nugget) while, at the same time, ignores the very action that thumbs it's nose at patriotism. The NFL's hypocrasy knows no bounds. Since this country was founded, a little over 1,498,240 men and women of all races, religious creeds and national origins have lost their lives in military actions both within our borders and around the globe. That's more than the population of San Antonio, Texas. A city, by the way, that has been repeatedly suggested to get an NFL franchise.
It stands for more than just veterans Lym. Good grief. Everyone is supposed to matter in this country and that's the point that escapes you. You're literally putting your need for "respect" ahead of peoples lives. That's not American-like in my book. No offense but I think you'll miss them more than they will miss you. This wreaks of "I'll take my ball and go home" if you don't agree with me. What are the veterans that support Kaepernick and others doing? Why don't they see it your way? Are they less patriotic?
I'm sorry you feel that way, but I understand conviction. #Millennials #AmIRite I don't presume to speak for all millennials, but I'll say that I feel you can both be critical and appreciative of your country. You can recognize that there is greatness but also short-comings of a nation. That "American exceptionalism" is not a destination but a call to do better - a goal to strive towards. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "devolving". Here's two events that have happened recently: a group of NFL players knelt during a song in a preseason game to pray for a nation where racial and socio-economic injustice is still very much present a Nazi killed an American citizen on U.S. soil I'm an atheist and the prayer one is pretty much a non-issue in my book. If we want to talk about the "devolution of a country", maybe it has less to do with what those men did on Monday and more with the underlying cause of why they did it.
I think you guys aren't quite getting what Lyman's saying (or I could be just seeing it differently). What I gather is that he's pissed at the NFL for having no stand on this. Either they need to stand by the players and declare it or openly denounce this. In the meantime, they are profiteering off the U.S. gov't paying them to have everybody line up and sing. It isn't to honor, just make another buck. The only reason they don't openly condone or denounce this is the fact they don't want to piss anybody off and lose the almighty dollar by "offending" fans with a pro or con stance on this and possibly that free gov't check as well.
I think it would be more accurate to say they won't handle it the way he wants it handled. And for the record Goodell has spoken recently on the matter and he said they need to respect player's rights to protest.
And yet he later replies that he's mad at the owners and not the players. By saying he pissed at someone for not "respecting" the anthem. To me it just means disagreeing with them for using this particular moment.
They aren't "handling" it at all. Either way / pro or con. And Lyman chooses to protest by not watching this season.
Why should we assume they need to handle anything? There is nothing in the CBA that addresses this so there ability to do anything about it would be pretty limited even if they chose to but as I mentioned earlier it appears they wouldn't anyway. Goodell spoke and said he respected the player's right to protest. Goodell is the voice of the owners. What more does anyone need to hear? Lyman has to do what he feels is right but it wouldn't hurt him to a little more open-minded. What's the point in initiating the discussion if your mind is already made up? Doesn't leave much to discuss. He will miss watching the Browns more than the Browns will miss him.
And that's the problem in a nutshell. That's why nothing gets fixed. That's why the players are protesting. Nobody else seems to be stepping up to take the higher moral ground in our society, especially those who have more clout like the NFL.
The NFL owners through their mouthpiece (Goodell) have said they respect the player's right to protest. Whey do you keep ignoring this point?
"It's one of those things where I think we have to understand that there are people that have different viewpoints," Goodell said. "The national anthem is a special moment to me. It's a point of pride. But we also have to understand the other side, that people do have rights and we want to respect those." https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/08/15/r...nthem-protests-marshawn-lynch-michael-bennett
I've actually been trying to stay out of this conversation all together, since my words mean nothing, I'm just an unpatriotic prick because I don't denounce the entire league for a handful of protestors... BUT, since you are ALSO talking about the NFL profiteering from the US Gov't...This has been going on since the beginning of our country. They have been sensationalizing the military forever, in what ever avenue they can in order to find new enlistees. That is why the government pays the money for the pregame ceremonies, because it brings the servicemen to the forefront in hopes that more young men and women will be influenced to join and serve themselves. This wasn't a campaign by the NFL to garner money from the armed forces for gains...It WAS THE GOVERNMENT going to the sports teams individually and buying services for recruitment practices...It wasn't an NFL ploy, they were individual contracts to individual teams that the armed forces asked to do.
