Here, I will make it easy for you. I posted the pdf of the complete CBA signed in 2011 between the players and NFL. I'll save you the trouble of looking through hundreds of pages. Start at page 180 where discipline and fines begin. Since this is the contract in play at the moment find anything that backs your statements. Try not to equate the NFL with a regular corporation as they are not the same as clearly evidenced by this contract. Any attempt by the NFL to unilaterally add/change something in the CBA gets immediately hit with a lawsuit as would be the case in any contract.
Frankly this is not 1968 were the owners call the shots. The NFL and the owners need the players more than the players need the NFL. Last time there was a strike and replacement players were used fans stayed away in droves due to the inferior games played. Fans don't watch star owners they watch star players. Like I said next contract in 2021 will be very contentious and could quite probably witness a strike for the second time.
https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/collective-bargaining-agreement-2011-2020.pdf
In a way, I almost feel bad that you're putting such effort into what are essentially word-game semantics.
I think we can agree the NFL is poorly run. One day there's an anthem policy, the next month it's gone. Pretty much a laughing stock.
Here’s what the NFL’s halted anthem policy means for everyone
The crux of the debate is simply "Does an organization have the right to terminate employment because of employee behavior while on the clock?" That's an obvious yes. Then I can provide examples of employees terminated for behavior even when they aren't working, which only reinforces that case.
If Kapernick has a case against his player union, or whatever team hired/fired him, he has every right to pursue it in court.
The second part of the issue; "is free speech protected?" Of course it is. Kapernick apparently isn't worth the risk/reward to NFL owners (make the maximum amount money... just like the Nike CEO). Kapernick may not be an NFL quarterback, but he hasn't lost his freedom. That's all the 1st amendment protects.
As for whom has the power; I could care less. If the NFL implodes, fine. If the players sit on the sidelines while replacements fumble the ball, that's OK. The market is at work here.
I can very clearly see the division between Kapernick's right to express himself and the owner's rights not to hire him.
I wonder which side of the debate you'd be on if a player expressed a homophobic, racist, intolerant thought? Would you be making the case they still deserved their job?
My logic holds up to either circumstance. Do you think a player should be able to light a candle during the anthem to protest abortion? How about tearing up a Mercedes catalog during the anthem to protest the 20% tariff on American car exports to Germany? (LOL, that would be AWESOME!)
Because I'd fire them as well.
