F the NFL...

MarPar

Meat Man with a Hat
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I couldn't have said it better myself...

- NFL NOT PROTECTING OUR FLAG -
Ret. Marine Col. Jeffery Powers wrote to the NFL commissioners the following:


Commissioners,

I’ve been a season pass holder at Yankee Stadium, Yale Bowl and the Giants Stadium.


I missed the ’90-’91 season because I was with a battalion of Marines in Desert Storm. 14 of my wonderful Marines returned home with the American Flag draped across their lifeless bodies. My last conversation with one of them, Sgt. Garrett Mongrella, was about how our Giants were going to the Super Bowl. He never got to see it.

Many friends, Marines, and Special Forces Soldiers who worked with or for me through the years returned home with the American Flag draped over their coffins.

Now I watch multi-millionaire athletes who never did anything in their lives but play a game, disrespect what brave Americans fought and died for. They are essentially spitting in the faces and on the graves of real men, men who have actually done something for this country beside playing with a ball and believing they’re something special! They’re not! My Marines and Soldiers were!

You are complicit in this! You’ll fine players for large and small infractions but you lack the moral courage and respect for our nation and the fallen to put an immediate stop to this. Yes, I know, it’s their 1st Amendment right to behave in such a despicable manner.

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What would happen if they came out and disrespected you or the refs publicly?

I observed a player getting a personal foul for twerking in the end zone after scoring. I guess that’s much worse than disrespecting the flag and our National Anthem. Hmmmmm, isn’t it his 1st Amendment right to express himself like an idiot in the end zone?

Why is taunting not allowed yet taunting America is OK? You fine players for wearing 9-11 commemorative shoes yet you allow scum on the sidelines to sit, kneel or pump their pathetic fist in the air. They are so deprived with their multi-million dollar contracts for playing a freaking game!

You condone it all by your refusal to act. You’re just as bad and disgusting as they are. I hope Americans boycott any sponsor who supports that rabble you call the NFL. I hope they turn off the TV when any team that allowed this disrespect to occur, without consequence, on the sidelines. I applaud those who have not.

Legends and heroes do NOT wear shoulder pads. They wear body armor and carry rifles. They make minimum wage and spend months and years away from their families. They don’t do it for an hour on Sunday. They do it 24/7 often with lead, not footballs, coming in their direction. They watch their brothers carted off in pieces not on a gurney to get their knee iced. They don’t even have ice! Many don’t have legs or arms.

Some wear blue and risk their lives daily on the streets of America. They wear fire helmets and go upstairs into the fire rather than down to safety. On 9-11, hundreds vanished. They are the heroes.

I hope that your high paid protesting pretty boys and you look in that mirror when you shave tomorrow and see what you really are, legends in your own minds. You need to hit the road and take those worms with you!

Time to change the channel.

Powers originally sent his letter to former Florida congressman Allen West. West then posted the letter to his news website.

As of last week, at least 18 NFL players had protested the anthem by either kneeling during the anthem or raising their fists, according to USA Today Sports.

F the scumbag players who kneel and F the NFL. Im done with them.
 
What does protesting our national symbol have to do with what they say is biased treatment of individuals based on the color of their skin. I have not attended Basketball, Football, or Baseball games for 4 years because these idiots make way too much monies and it just costs to much to attend with my family. I hope these players figure out some other way to get their point across because eventually the fans will get tired of this and have had enough and quit going. I have. Now back to our hobby which is all I need as my sport.....
 
It seems that as the letter writer points out the NFL is inconsistent in it's policy regarding personal expression. I'm not a lawyer but it has always been my understanding that direct employees and contract employees of companies are subject to policies that would otherwise curtail freedom of expression in order to protect a company's reputation in the market and further it's business interests. Such policies have been upheld in the courts as a reasonable infringement on freedom of expression. These displays of contempt by overpaid athletes would be one of the main reasons parents have been turning their kids away from these team sports. I've been reading recently how the fan base of the NFL seems to be eroding so it is perplexing that senior NFL management can't get their act together on this issue.
 
Seems pretty clear no punching your GF in the elevator and you will stand up and pay attention during game opening ceremonies.
Punching her? More like knocking her out and dragging her out of the elevator. I'm glad he's not playing in the NFL!
 
I would think this guy would do well to ***** about the treatment of vets, going back to the Vietmanese war instead of the flag and sports players. They're the ones that made the real sacrifice and surely deserve the best of treatment.
 
Very well said. I gave up on stick and ball sports for so many reasons and the NFL was the last straw. Back in the day REAL men played the sport for the love of the game, not the money and they respected the Flag. Now the networks don't even show the playing of the National Anthem. Vince Lombardi would have kicked these guys butts and sent them out the door!
 
As unpopular as my opinion will be, a lot of these guys risk their heads/necks/torsos/legs every play. This has nothing to do with the military as far as a protest but more to do with the leadership of our country and more specifically how minorities are treated everyday in this country. I know I'm going to get the "love it or leave it" phrase from people, but why can't we still strive to make this country better? My point is that these fellas aren't protesting the flag, military, or even our country itself. They are trying to bring forth some dialogue about the injustices that happen daily to so many US citizens. And let's not forget that these players weren't the ones charging the military millions of dollars each year for "acknowledgments" before games.
 
As unpopular as my opinion will be, a lot of these guys risk their heads/necks/torsos/legs every play. This has nothing to do with the military as far as a protest but more to do with the leadership of our country and more specifically how minorities are treated everyday in this country. I know I'm going to get the "love it or leave it" phrase from people, but why can't we still strive to make this country better? My point is that these fellas aren't protesting the flag, military, or even our country itself. They are trying to bring forth some dialogue about the injustices that happen daily to so many US citizens. And let's not forget that these players weren't the ones charging the military millions of dollars each year for "acknowledgments" before games.

Yeah, you may have walked into the "lion's den" with that one :)

I respect your view and its a valid as any other view. I also respect every other view in this post so far as well as being equally valid. I hope any dissent remains civil here.

Anyway, one of my favorite writers here with a local paper wrote a piece earlier this week that I personally liked. The Detroit Free Press' Mitch Albom (google Mitch if you don't know of him .. he's MUCH more than a 'sportswriter". He just calls stuff like he sees it, no matter who it comes from).

Its a short piece, and he doesnt (never did) support the kneeling thing but does fully support the idea of calling out injustices so they can be addressed -- but HOW you do that, no matter what side of the issue you're on, matters. How much legitimate outrage do you wanna engender by showing your own legitimate outrage over a thing? Hard to solve stuff when everybody's pissed at each other.

Piece ends like this:

"Here’s an idea. You want to make a statement during the anthem? How about one hand over your heart and another holding the hand of a teammate? That shows unity and respect.

Because, while no one should argue the freedom to express ourselves, we are now entering the sophomore year of football anthem protests. And if they were supposed to improve things, they have not. Maybe more unity and less divisiveness might."

Is there a better protest than sitting for the national anthem?
 
As unpopular as my opinion will be, a lot of these guys risk their heads/necks/torsos/legs every play. This has nothing to do with the military as far as a protest but more to do with the leadership of our country and more specifically how minorities are treated everyday in this country. I know I'm going to get the "love it or leave it" phrase from people, but why can't we still strive to make this country better? My point is that these fellas aren't protesting the flag, military, or even our country itself. They are trying to bring forth some dialogue about the injustices that happen daily to so many US citizens. And let's not forget that these players weren't the ones charging the military millions of dollars each year for "acknowledgments" before games.
I agree with some of what you say but as the previous post indicates there is no merit in exercising your right to protest by denigrating those that fought for your freedom. It's common knowledge that most veterans take exception when you don't stand for the anthem so why not express your protest differently. The media will be more than happy to regurgitate an NFL player's hyperbole so there is no reason to PO the majority of fans. There is nothing new about self centred behaviour by talented but immature players so I still maintain this is a management issue.
 
Agree Fratzog, there has to be something within the CBA that allows the NFLPA the right for their players to do this. Because upper management doesn't like this, they would have tried to stop it already.
 
Because upper management doesn't like this, they would have tried to stop it already.

Oh maybe a few NFL people don't like it, but the larger goal is a coup d'é tat, and that's worth a revenue blip. Some very powerful people are nervous about having their applecarts overturned. Just the money lost on a few trade deals is worth pulling out all the stops and dividing the nation.

That's why I used the specific term "useful idiots" for these NFL players. On one issue alone... if they're so concerned about the plight of their fellow black men, why is material conspicuous consumption the only message delivered in the face of shootings over a pair of name-brand shoes/glasses/coat/etc? Sorry, they're just endorsement-whores looking for streetcred.

This year I'll spend 10x the amount on pro-sports that I've spent in the previous 25 years combined.
 
Some very powerful people are nervous about having their applecarts overturned.
Agreed that is a very likely motivation that is common to all large corporations.
Just the money lost ....
True. We tend to give senior execs more credit than they are due. Many are simply Machiavellian A** Holes that are in it for their own enrichment and look no further ahead than the next stock option.
This year I'll spend 10x the amount on pro-sports that I've spent in the previous 25 years combined.
Not sure why...?
 
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