NFL Protests: The Untold Stories

In recent years, NFL player Colin Kaepernick created a stir throughout the nation when he chose to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem in protest of Police Brutality against Minority Communities, particular African-Americans, here in the United States.  During this time of controversy, I personally chose to keep my views on this matter to myself.  I had mixed feelings, about the issue at hand, as well as how it was being protested, but regardless, I believed that Kaepernick had the right to stand, or in this case, kneel for his beliefs, because I am a firm believer in the First Amendment of the Constitution.  However, over time I began to realize that the NFL, like many in America, only support the First Amendment when it comes to expression views that they agree with, but when it comes to views that they disagree with, they want the First Amendment to be suppressed, rather than be upheld.

 Let me cite a few examples.  After the shooting of Five Dallas Police Officers by Micah Xavier Johnson in July of 2016, the Dallas Cowboys wanted to pay tribute to these officers by placing "Arm in Arm" decals on their helmets.  However, the NFL refused to allow this.  Tennessee Titans football player Avery Williamson wanted to wear football cleats honoring the 9/11 attack, the NFL threatened to fine him.  Former Chicago Bears player Brandon Marshall was fined $10,000 for wearing green shoes to raise awareness of mental health illness.  Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams was denied a request to wear pink all season long to raise awareness of for Breast Cancer, which killed his mother years earlier.  Does this show a bias?  Does this illustrate that the NFL only supports the First Amendment when they approve of the cause, but seeks to suppress it when players want to honor a cause that the NFL does not approve of?  I would say that they answer to this question is yes.  

 I would therefore say that it's time for the NFL to make a choice.  They must either protect all of the NFL players First Amendment Rights and ensure that every player can express their views on an issue regardless of how the league feels about it, or the NFL is simply going to have to make it a requirement that no NFL player can take action for or against any cause on the football field.  Simply put, the NFL will have to protect the First Amendment Rights of all their players, or they will have to deny the First Amendment Rights to all players.  There is no other option.  

 Sources

Brinson, Will.  "NFL Won't let Cowboys Wear Decals Supporting Dallas Police in Regular Season."  CBS Sports.  Aug. 11, 2016.  Accessed from https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-wont-let-cowboys-wear-decals-supporting-dallas-police-in-regular-season/.

Gabriel, Bridgitte.  Rise: In Defense of Judeo-Christian Values and Freedom.  Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2018.

"NFL Denies Cowboys Request to Wear Decal Honoring Fallen Dallas Officers."  Fox News.  August 12, 2016.  Accessed from http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2016/08/12/nfl-denies-cowboys-request-to-wear-decal-honoring-fallen-dallas-officers.html.

Wolf, Jason.  "NFL Squashes Titans Linebacker Avery Williamson's Plan to Honor 9/11 Victims."  Tennessean.  Sept. 09, 2016.  Accessed from https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2016/09/09/nfl-squashes-titans-linebacker-avery-williamsons-plan-honor-911-victims/89956128/.

Wolf, Jason.  "Titan's Avery Williamson Wears 9/11 Cleats Despite Fine Threat."  Tennessean.  Sept. 11, 2016.  Accessed from https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2016/09/11/titans-avery-williamson-wears-patriotic-shoes-despite-nfl-threatening-fine/90222846/.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hamas Invasion of Israel

Image
The brutal invasion of Israel by Hamas caught the entire world by surprise.  Over the last few years Israel has become accustomed to turning back rocket attacks and occasional cross-border raids by Hamas terrorists, but nobody anticipated this brutal full-out invasion.  Already being dubbed as "Israel's 9/11," militants stormed across the Gaza border and attacked towns across southern Israel.  Already over 900 Israelis are confirmed dead, thousands more wounded, and over 100 hostages, including women & children, have been taken back to Gaza ( Video Footage of Massacres ).   Israeli Woman Taken Hostage by Hamas The deadliest massacre so far took place at the Nova Music Festival in the Negev Desert close to Urim, a Jewish community that lives close to the Gaza Strip.  At 6am on Oct. 7th, the attack on the festival began as rockets rained down and Hamas gunmen appeared and opened fire.  As of now over 260 Israelis are confirmed dead from this attack alone with a number o
Read more

Jihadists World-Wide Celebrate Massacres in Israel

Image
The Plague of Jihad is all over the world.  The past few days has witnessed Israel suffer the most horrific attack that it has endured since the October War of 1973, yet for all of the senseless death, for all of the footage that we see of Hamas militants murdering Israelis in cold blood, many in the world are in fact celebrating this atrocity.   Hamas Supporters in Canada In Iran, crowds of Hamas supporters took to the streets to celebrate the slaughter of Israelis by Hamas while their government leaders lavished praise on the terrorists ( Link to Article ).  In the nation of Turkey, Hamas supporters crowded the streets of Istanbul chanting "Allahu Akbar" & "Khaybar Khaybar Ya Yahud" ( Link to Video ).  "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Muhammad soufa ya'oud" is the full version of the chant.  It translates to "Khaybar Khaybar or Jews, the Army of Muhammad will return."  For those unfamiliar with the context of this chant, Khaybar was the
Read more

Hamas and Their Child Soldier Training Camps

Image
For years the world has known that Hamas deliberately targets children for indoctrination and training to carry out terrorist missions.  They have camps throughout Gaza and other areas of the Middle East where children are taught to hate, & trained to kill.  These camps are often referred to as "Summer Youth Camps."  The titles sound harmless enough, but unlike the summer youth camps in the U.S. and other Western nations where children play games, do crafts, and in general, have fun, the Hamas "Summer Youth Camps" are nothing like this.  They're training camps, where children are trained in weapons handling, military drills, and are indoctrinated to "hate the Infidel," particularly Jews.   Link to Video On videos that have circulated across the online world, these children have openly confessed that they have come here for the purpose of learning to fight.  One such video surfaced on MEMRI with a child openly stating "We did not come here to e
Read more