San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick created a firestorm when he refused to stand during the national anthem. He said, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Uh-huh—and you decided to stage a protest about this, which has all been done before, now? Whatever the reason, I did say that I supported Kaepernick’s inane decision to be disrespectful. It’s America. He’s well within his rights to do this, but don’t whine or complain when the backlash hits you. That’s our right as outraged patriots. Over time, other athletes, like U.S. women’s national team player Megan Rapinoe, also took a knee during the national anthem to show solidarity for Kaepernick before her game against the Chicago Red Stars; Rapinoe plays for the Seattle Reign.
Well, now an entire NFL team could boycott the anthem (on 9/11 no less) during their season-opener against the Miami Dolphins (via KomoNews):
Following protests by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Seattle cornerback Jeremy Lane, members of the Seahawks might join together to address the issues that motivated Kaepernick to first sit, then kneel during the playing of the national anthem.Linebacker Bobby Wagner said Wednesday that the team is considering a show of unity in order to promote justice and equality for all Americans, regardless of skin color.
"Anything that we want to do, it's not going to be individual," Wagner said ahead of practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. "It's going to be a team thing because that's what the world needs to see. The world needs to see people coming together versus being individuals."
[…]
Wide receiver Doug Baldwin, never shy about expressing his opinions, took to Facebook to discuss the issue on Sept. 4, using a parable to argue people were more concerned with Kaepernick's method of protest than the issues he raised.
"I think that's what the issue is here," Baldwin said on Wednesday. "We're missing the message in terms of what we're talking about. It's not necessarily about the messenger or about the protest itself. It's about what we're pointing to."
Baldwin and his teammates have discussed a larger protest, but the 27-year-old said he wanted to get "all of my ducks in a row" before he disclosed any plans.
Again, do what you want fellas. No black bags are going to be pulled over your head after the game, but an anthem protest on 9/11 will only make you prime candidates for tool academy. No one is going to talk about racial and social injustice with your antics. It will be how you disrespected the families of the victims from that horrific attack. Protest all you want, but don’t complain if the backlash is swift and brutal. Frankly, this is just nonsense. If any of these clowns were so committed to starting some conversation about race, shouldn’t they have done this two years ago after Michael Brown’s shooting death (which was ruled justifiable by the DOJ) in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014? Where were these national anthem protests then? It’s shallow political theater—nothing more. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is a 9/11 truther? Yeah, talk about insult to injury. As for Rapinoe, she’s, uh—upset that the national anthem was played early before her game against the Washington Spirit. This prevented another anthem protest on her part:
I didn’t hear it and I wasn’t exactly sure why it wasn’t played. It’s [expletive] unbelievable. Saddened by it. It’s pretty clear what the message is I am trying to bring to light in Chicago and what I continue to try to talk about the last few days. Clearly with [Spirit owner Bill Lynch’s] actions, it’s a necessary conversation. It was incredibly distasteful, four days before one of the worst tragedies in our country, to say that I tried to hijack this event. … It’s just really disappointing and disrespectful. We want to talk about disrespect, and me disrespecting, he didn’t even give both teams a chance to even stand in front of it and show their respects. It’s unbelievable. It’s truly an unbelievable act to me.”
Statement from Washington Spirit owner Bill Lynch on decision to play national anthem with teams not on field. #NWSL pic.twitter.com/RKgkIyvHUb
— Jeff Kassouf (@JeffKassouf) September 7, 2016
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me? And please don’t say that this was to the detriment of both teams—it's only bad for your protest. Ms. Rapinoe has decided to take a knee during the national anthem. That’s fine. Mr. Lynch decided to play the anthem early. That’s fine too. In the end, wherever you fall in this debate, you’re going to have to deal with differences of opinion, no matter how maddening. At the same time, a 9/11 national anthem protest. To me, that’s just heinous.