Across the NFL players and owners banded together in week three to protest in response to comments made by President Donald Trump regarding the kneeling of players during the national anthem. National anthem protests have been a source of controversy in the league since Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the anthem last season.
To address the anthem protests commissioner Roger Goodell held a meeting in New York this past Tuesday. Several key players and owners were in attendance. Owners included John Mara, Robert Kraft, Art Rooney II, Shad Khan, Stephen Ross, Jimmy and Dee Haslam, and Jeffrey Lurie. Players Jonathan Casillas, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, Jason McCourty, and Christian Kirksey, were also in attendance.
The meeting was intended to open a dialogue between the league officials and player on how to deal with anthem protests moving forward. Casillas, a linebacker for the Giants, was impressed by the direction the meeting took, “You got to see opinions from the owners and from the players as well. Stuff like that is very good, very proactive.”
The meeting was a key step in the evolution of the protests. The main argument against the anthem protests is that it is disrespectful to the flag. Although players have always maintained that their protests were not intended to disrespect the flag.
Casillas came away with a new understanding of the opposition. “I know the owners for sure don’t want us kneeling,” Casillas said. ” … It’s what the message is getting across. People have been totally misconstruing the kneeling thing, from the beginning, from when Kaepernick did it in the beginning. Everyone is talking about the players disrespecting the flag. It’s never been written and it’s never been said anything about kneeling down is disrespecting the flag.”
As Devin McCourty noted it is also important to the players that their message is not misunderstood,
“I think the biggest thing, as players, that we have to keep in the forefront [is] the inequality and injustice. I think that’s what is important. We have to make sure this whole thing doesn’t turn into the NFL vs. Donald Trump. He is whatever he is. You can probably have an hour of trying to describe that and everything he is. But I think as players, we have an agenda of what we think can be done better, and we’re trying to use our platform. I think we have to stick to that.”
It appears that the meeting was productive on both sides. However, the most telling factor will be what, if any, changes players make to their national anthem routines this Sunday.
