The NFL is swarmed with the protest of the National Anthem.

Many NFL teams and players and protested the National Anthem recently.

The National Football League (NFL) season kicked off on September 7 and with that came the usual controversy over protests during the national anthem. 22 players protested in some form during week 1 and 24 players during week 2. Some players knelt, others sat, raised a fist, or just showed support by placing a hand on the shoulder of a protester. Then on September 23, president Trump had a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, where he made some very controversial statements about the protests. He did this by calling Colin Kaepernick in particular and any other players who protest “sons of bitches” and that the NFL owners should be firing any player who refuses to stand.

Trump certainly didn’t like the result of what came the following week. Where a player on All 32 teams protested in the same way. If we go by numbers, roughly 75 percent of the NFL protested the anthem in some form. That’s up from less than 5 percent from the last two weeks. This has become more of a platform to show the president that he can’t take away their right to free speech. Three teams, the Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, all skipped the anthem completely and stayed at the edge of the locker room until it concluded. Some owners and staff of certain teams also knelt or locked arms with the players of their teams.

Crazy to think that this all began with one man, Colin Kaepernick. That name can resonate with people in many ways. To some, he’s a horrible person that began all anthem protests.  To others, he’s a man who took a stand for what he believed in, which was to protest police brutality on African American men.  He didn’t care about the consequence, But to all, he’s still just a quarterback trying to make it in the NFL. Trying is definitely the word to use now as he is not on an NFL roster as of week one. Kaepernick, 29, was an up and coming quarterback for the San Fransisco 49ers, even leading the team to a Super Bowl appearance in 2013. Across the NFL right now, there 82 total quarterbacks on rosters across the league. While Kaepernick, who was a starter last year with a QB rating of 49.2 last year (according to ESPN, 23 among QBs), sits on the couch at home, not even on a roster.

Many have come to gather that NFL owners don’t want the negative backlash that would come of signing Kaepernick, you’d have to think that this is the only logical reasoning. But some are happy about this, saying that Kap is getting what he deserves. Reid Popplewell said this of Kaepernick; “If he doesn’t like what’s happening in the country, find another way. You should respect the soldiers who have died for that flag. If he believes in his cause enough, he’s gonna have to deal with the consequences.” 

As of week five, Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, said that if any player kneeled for the national anthem on his team would result in them being benched. Trump tweeted about this saying “Salute to Jerry Jones… Stand for the anthem or sit for the game!” Trump wasn’t the only president tweeting about the NFL, vice president Mike Pence was attending the 49ers vs Colts game in Indianapolis. Pence reportedly left after over 20 members of the 49ers organization kneeled for the anthem. After he tweeted “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS (Donald Trump) and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”

Before the Trump tweet, there were no instances of any kneeling in any other league, but on Sept. 23, Bruce Maxwell, a catcher for the Oakland Athletics, began kneeling during the anthem. He was the only MLB player to take this action. He remained to kneel for the rest of the season. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has created a rule that doesn’t allow players to protest before the season has even begun to ensure there is no controversy when the season begins. This is a hot topic with many arguments from both sides. It certainly has become a national controversy.