NFL weighs 15-yard penalties for kneeling during national anthem: report

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Hill


BY BRETT SAMUELS - 05/22/18 04:41 PM EDT

NFL owners on Tuesday mulled the possibility of assessing an in-game penalty against teams whose players kneel in protest during the national anthem.

Sports Illustrated reported that NFL owners met in Atlanta and discussed how to handle anthem protests moving forward.

One suggestion was to have the home team decide whether both teams would be on the field for "The Star-Spangled Banner," or remain in their respective locker rooms. If the teams chose to come out, a team would be assessed a 15-yard penalty if any of their players protested during the anthem.

Sports journalists took to Twitter and roundly criticized the concept.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/388870-nfl-weighs-15-yard-penalties-for-kneeling-during-national

[TNNurse]

1. Fuck them this is unAmerican.

[mpcamb]

26. The first two words of the article say it all. "NFL owners..."

They are lowlife, I-made-mine-so-screw-you people, mostly racist to the core types who want to run the plantation their way.
I hope the Players Union treats it the way it deserves.

[SergeStorms]

70. Correction....

change "I made mine so screw you people" to "I inherited mine, so screw you people". That's much closer to the truth for a great many of them.

[dembotoz]

2. Fuck em

[ailsagirl]

3. WTF????

[pangaia]

4. American 'football' is only outdone in stupidity by boxing.

Please feel free to add your own,.




And it isn't even played with the foot.

[Pluvious]

46. An beauty pageants (IMHO) nt.

[aeromanKC]

5. How Trumpian Mein Kampf of the NFL

Players should kneel en masse.

[williesgirl]

6. And anyone watching on TV should respond to the

Penalty by immediately changing the channel for the entire game.

[pecosbob]

7. You guys want to escalate?

Cool...we can definitely escalate. They need a reality check on who actually supplies most of their money. Hint...it's not racist a**holes. There aren't enough Trumpicans and nazis in the world to support the NFL.

[busterbrown]

15. If it Happen's ?

I smell a Strike! Perhaps mostly by Black Players, but ...a Strike nevertheless!

[pecosbob]

35. I would love to see an entire team walk back to the locker room after the anthem

[Iggo]

8. Fuck. Them.

[Mr.Bill]

9. How did we even get here?

What does the national anthem even have to do with professional sports?

I stopped attending professional sporting events several years ago because I was tired of having to spend 30 minutes before each game worshipping the police and the military. Not to mention being asked to stand for the singing of God Bless America at the end of the 7th inning. Just play the damn game and remove all the political and religious garbage. Rant off.

[busterbrown]

16. Boy... 911? the collateral damaged it did.! N/T

[Mr.Bill]

19. To some extent, but

the national anthem has been part of sporting events since long before 9/11.

[Ccarmona]

41. NFL Players Where in the Locker Room for the Anthem up to 2008

It wasn’t until the Defense Dept started to advertise on NFL Telecasts did the dictate come down from up high that the players needed to be on the field for the Anthem.

[blkyank1]

64. The Military has always been.....

Involved with the NFL.

In 2008, the NFL and the military began a "Salute to service" month (November)
where the military gets a lot of exposure by being part of pre-game and halftime, military/patriotic themed
events and the NFL gets paid by the military because its telecasts are a prime means of reaching and building
interests among young men of military age (especially those who play high school athletics) and from sales
of military-themed NFL gear, like camo patterned trucker hats and team jerseys.

Keep in mind, the military is in something of a recruiting crisis because of the vast majority of the 18-24
demographic are ineligible for military service due to obesity, drug use, criminal records, or excessive
tattooing. The Pentagon knows a lot of High School athletes are not good enough to ever get a scholarship
but they are fit to pass a military physical, can meet the physical demands of active service, and are
already socialized into an environment of teamwork, male bonding, physical fitness, and competitive
spirit.
Since the League was getting paid by the Pentagon, they mandated the National Anthem be shown as part
of the broadcast (which used to only happen in a Conference Championship game and the Superbowl)
instead of just picking up the action at kickoff.

People at the stadium were asked to stand for the National Anthem, but that wasn't deemed a thing anybody in T.V.land
cared about for a regular season game. If they are going to give the NFL tens of millions of dollars a year, they expect
the NFL to mandate that the very players who are looked up to by those young men, to be fully behind the campaign.

[Mr.Bill]

87. True, but that was not my point.

My point was that the anthem has been played at sporting events since long before that.

[pecosbob]

38. Not 9/11...it didn't start this crap

This started long before 9/11. This is just another manifestation of a long aggregation of hatred being directed at Americans by a political party on the wane and it's surrogates like DeLay and Gingrich and Hannity and Limbaugh and Arpaio and Palin and Ingraham and Bachman and Cruz and Ryan and the Tea-baggers.

[busterbrown]

42. I stand by what I stated..

911 attacks scared the crap out of our population from coast to coast. This lead to compete compliance of our citizenry for anything the Right Wing wanted from domestic surveillance to allowing our Govt. to begin any kind of war they felt would strengthen their political power.

This is when all that fucking bullshit really took hold a sporting events.. Flyovers, Cannons, Military Marches etc..in the next decade, perhaps a pre-game stadium execution of Terrorists..

[MyOwnPeace]

55. AND!!!!!!!!

The U.S. military was PAYING the NFL for those "patriotic" events!!!

Hey, way to spend our defense money, assholes!

[xxqqqzme]

56. I stopped attending

baseball games because of being told to stand for god bless america - Nope!
Take Me Out to the Ballpark of nothing!

[keepleft101]

76. I agree

what does the national anthem have anything to do with sports?

I go to my sons volleyball games at HS and he is currently on JV. There is no national anthem before his game but if I stay to watch the varsity game they play the national anthem before that game and you have to stand.

So why don't they play it before the JV game if its so important?

[MontanaMama]

10. Haven't watched an NFL game

since Colin Kaepernick was shunned. Haven’t missed it either. This move by the NFL cements my decision.

[Solly Mack]

11. What bullshit.

[paleotn]

12. Oh, please....

It wasn't until after 9-11 that most started even paying attention to the national anthem. Most teams weren't even on the field, and the few players and staff that were out were doing other stuff or goofing off. Fans payed even less attention. Last call for concessions and potty before kickoff. 15 yard penalty. Such bullshit.

[left-of-center2012]

18. Yep

[VWolf]

79. There was plenty of jingoism at the start of Gulf War I

I recall Whitney Houston's rendition of the anthem being played over and over in 1991.

[Maxheader]

13. So what do you gain rich sporty guys?

Both teams decide to honor the movement against injustice.
Both get a 15 yard penalty..both start out with the same
distraction just to salve the rich guys pride...
Their screwing with the pros and history shows
the pros don't like being messed with. Especially
by the owners..

[7962]

17. that would actually work. nt

[stopwastingmymoney]

83. Yes! My thoughts exactly...nt

[sinkingfeeling]

14. Better idea: Stop playing the f**king national anthem. That 'home of the brave,

land of the free' country is gone anyway.

[LittleGirl]

33. no shit. eom

[VWolf]

80. The only time national anthems are appropriate, IMO,

is before international soccer matches, where the teams represent their countries.

(And possibly the Olympics as well)

[left-of-center2012]

20. Keep the teams off the field until start of the game

That's how it used to be.

[DinahMoeHum]

44. +1000s

n/t

[WhoWoodaKnew]

54. Yes

[whopis01]

21. It would actually be kind of funny if both teams kneeled

There would be offsetting penalties and the game would start just like always.

[BigmanPigman]

22. I like that idea!

[unblock]

23. the game theorist in me is fascinated with this!

it's a variant of the prisoner's dilemma.

they agree to do it, then they watch each other as soon as the anthem starts to see if the other side actually goes through with it.
when do you kneel? are you willing to chance it that the other side will back out after you commit?

[whopis01]

40. I love it

You could have one team trying to fake out the other by looking like they were going to kneel and stopping at the last moment.

Then you would have the refs watching to see if their knee made contact with the ground.

Eventually you would have instant replays and challenged calls during the anthem.

[MyOwnPeace]

57. GREAT!!!!

ANOTHER 5-minute delay of game - before the game even starts. Another chance to run 4 minutes of commercials.
Well, I can see who would be supporting THAT idea!

[paleotn]

24. Perfect response.

[AllaN01Bear]

25. i dont care for this usless sport anyway. yet another playtoy for the rich

[Sherman A1]

27. I stopped watching sports in the 1980s

Whatever they do or don’t do, makes no difference to me as I do not find their product to be entertaining.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

31. Me either.

[marble falls]

28. Too bad I watch not a second of NFL already.

[Hoyt]

29. I bet they don't do this. But nowadays, who knows.

[walkingman]

30. Stop playing the national anthem. I am tired of these right-wing morons making everything about

their dumbass ideology. If they don't want to watch the NFL who cares.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

32. Submit....

I said submit. Stop resisting. Stop resisting. He grabbed my gun!

[kacekwl]

34. Not possible. Complete nonsense.

Will there also be a penalty for farting during the anthem ?

[Turbineguy]

36. But if the same number of players on each team....

[bahrbearian]

37. If 10 Players on each team kneel, 150 yard penalty , offsetting .

Kick off.

[Duppers]

65. They SHOULD!

Seriously tho, they have a First Amendment right to express how they feel.

Bet the NFL owners wouldn't have any problem if they extended their arms up and yelled Heil TRump!!

[airmid]

39. I quit watching football a few yrs ago after the studies on CTE came out.

I cannot abide a sport that involves multiple head trauma. Seems to me that fits right in with Republican agenda.

[sellitman]

43. I want to see a whole team kneel

Say for argument sake all 46 men kneeling

Go ahead punish the team 690 yards.

That would be hilarious.

Idiots!!!!!!

[blkyank1]

66. Wouldn't work that way...

It would be like getting a penalty for the assistant coaches or off-field players coming onto the field during play.

They would just pick a player or more likely name the entire bench while calling the penalty. 15 yards sucks but
teams deal with that all the time from blocking and holding penalties.

A tougher way to go would be if the receiving team does it. Spot the ball on their 10-yard line. If the kicking team
does it, spot the ball on the 50-yard line. If both do it, the ref has the authority to pick whoever he thinks/says did it first
and penalize accordingly.

[MichMan]

45. The players might concede on this rule.....

….as a consideration for the formation of the social justice partnership

From Sports illustrated

"The NFL addressed the anthem issue at its meetings in October and March, with plans to further discuss it at this meeting. The league also met with the Players Coalition in October, and agreed to a seven-year, $89 million social-justice partnership.

According to sources, the owners also discussed how to move forward its partnership with the players and finalized the terms of the deal."

[benld74]

47. Players return to locker room before game start. Anthem plays. Teams return. Game played End story

[BadgerKid]

48. Then it'll be how unpatriotic of them

Good grief

[benld74]

58. If it's owner's decision

Then yes they are unpatriotic

[rpannier]

49. The winning response belongs to Tommy Thomlinson

By the time we're done we'll have a 5-yard kneeling, a 15-yard kneeling, and 30 minutes of replay before opening kickoff so the refs can determine if there was any flagrant kneeling that would result in a suspension

on edit:
and forty minutes of commercials

[Hoyt]

53. Excellent. What happens if players on both teams kneel. Offsetting?

[rpannier]

73. Knowing the NFL

Extra commercials. And any other way they can make money off of it.
Maybe redo the whole anthem

[JDC]

50. F that. They will lose this fan immediately.

Just f that

[GP6971]

51. That is total BS n/t

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

52. My knowledge of football isn't that great,

but from what I think I know, I'm trying to figure out just how the penalty would be assessed. Would they count the number of players kneeling, multiply that by 15 yards and then . . . If it's the team kicking off, they move the ball that many yards to kick? What if more than three or four players kneel? It's not possible to move the ball outside the stadium for the kick-off, is it? And if it's the receiving team, they catch the ball, run it however far, and then get moved back by whatever multiples of 15 yards apply? What if that's in the next county?

Of course, the idiocy of playing the National Anthem at every trivial sporting event, or requiring the Pledge of Allegiance at every minor meeting, is absurd to begin with.

[Dawson Leery]

59. Why do sports have to be ingrained with jingoism?

The (highly corrupt) Olympics offer enough of that bulls**t.

[quartz007]

60. 15 yard penalties will not work!

If 7 players kneel, what will they do? Asses 105 yards?
The Football field is only 100 yards long.

[turbinetree]

61. This is just messed up, billionaires will want paying ticket holders to stand or they

will throw you out..........................fuck that

[Rhiannon12866]

62. I thought we saw owners kneeling with the players??

This is really as stupid as it gets... What does it possibly have to do with the actual game?

[Judi Lynn]

63. At least one did: Jerry Jones, who owns the Cowboys.

(CNN)Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones joined his team in taking a knee before the National Anthem, then the Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals players stood with arms locked for the anthem ahead of the "Monday Night Football" kickoff.

Still, the fans in Glendale, Arizona, booed as "America's Team" knelt.

Cowboys star wide receiver Dez Bryant and running back Ezekiel Elliott said the team was sending a message to President Donald Trump, who in recent days has issued caustic criticism of the anthem protests that began as a means to decry racial and social injustice. They evolved over the weekend, with players responding to Trump's remarks by kneeling, locking arms or remaining in their locker rooms during pregame performances of the anthem.

"That was a clear shot at Trump," Bryant said of his team's display. "We showed great unity tonight, and that's what that was for. I feel like that was needed."

Added Elliott, "We don't agree at all with what the President said, and we just wanted to show that we weren't going to be divided by that."

https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/us/nfl-trump-take-knee-protests-cowboys-cardinals/index.html

[Rhiannon12866]

71. Thanks! Maybe he was the one I saw

My Dad was a big Roger Staubach fan. But I thought there was more than just one - in any case, kudos to Jerry Jones!

[blkyank1]

67. Nothing

The kneeling has become a thing because of the right-wing media has made it part of the culture wars.

They know the NFL has a large white working class fan base who already are being stoked about not being respected
by liberal elites and uppity unappreciative minorities who are biting the hand that feeds them.

Notice, none of them want to debate the kneelings on their stated merits which would at least be honest
disagreement. They have to make it an attack on Veterans and the military (instead of Law Enforcement
practices and tactics) because the military is universally admired.

Its a means to shut down debate without even addressing the true concerns of the protestors.

What is more disrespectful to the flag.



or

[Rhiannon12866]

68. I agree, they are not addressing the issues behind the protest

They're just attacking the action as being "unpatriotic," which they know will agitate their clueless "base."

[forgotmylogin]

69. Option #2:

Stop playing the national anthem at sporting events and politicizing leisure events.

[truthisfreedom]

72. Fuck football. I'll never watch it again. Idiot fascist shitfucks.

Slithering their way into fatass’s golf shorts.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

74. This is yet another losing issue for us. We are obviously on the correct side of the issue...

and all that's happening is the NFL is losing viewers (check this thread and republican boards and trends) and those same ole swing voters are sitting home thinking "why do democrats/blacks hate our country". That's ALL that many of them think. We can argue with them until we're blue in the face but it's not gonna work.

So, the NFL screwed up big time when they partnered with the military and when they brought the teams out for the national anthem. As the billionaire owners see their own brand and their money dip they're gonna side with the extremist republicans.

This is a lose/lose for us.

Here's what I propose. Have the same players create PSA/commercials (funded by wealthy democratic donors) to address the issue of black people being shot/treated differently/etc that will air during the games. The republicans will hate it and the reasonable swing voters will think, "Yeah, they have a point. That's not right. Something must be done". It will be MASSIVELY influential.

Or we could continue to lose swing voters on stuff like this and have the Republicans continue to control Congress and the Presidency. Anyone here for that???

[keepleft101]

75. This is as stupid as it can get

You don't want players kneeling than you fine them the first time. 2nd time you maybe double the fine. 3rd time you suspend them without pay and so forth.

To give them a 15 yard penalty is nonsense


For the record I could careless if a player wants to kneel in protest.

[LanternWaste]

84. The fines you propose seem as nonsensical as does the penalty itself.

The fines you propose seem as nonsensical as does the penalty itself.

[keepleft101]

88. how does it?

what does a person kneeling before a game even starts give an entire team a penalty. It has nothing to do with the game.

A fine then suspension would make the player follow the rules

not sure how you don't see a difference?

[Nitram]

77. Then they should also consider 20-yard penalties for grabbing their crotch. Or picking their nose.

Or burping, farting, and sneezing.

[TimeSnowDemos]

78. And millions of Americans

will support this...

Things being anti-American and popular are unrelated... even in America... and the ability to deal with that cognitive dissonance is a big part of being American.

[mountain grammy]

81. 15 yards or 15 lashes..

first thing that popped into my head.. white supremacy on display here.

[CanonRay]

82. If they do this, I'm done

I'll never watch another NFL game.

[maxsolomon]

85. I'm pretty much done anyway.

The sport is killing its players. It must evolve or die.

Disentangling itself from Militaristic Rah-Rah would be a good start.

[itcfish]

86. Hell! Everyone Should

Kneel, then there will be no game at all!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

89. "Prediction: the NFL caving to the conservative snowflakes will be insufficient. ..."

Prediction: the NFL caving to the conservative snowflakes will be insufficient. Next up: "YOU MUST FIRE EVERYONE WHO STAYS IN THE LOCKER ROOM DURING THE ANTHEM, FOR FREEDOM!"

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