RIDGELAND — Facebook has been abuzz since Sunday afternoon with people threatening to boycott the NFL. Fine, that is their right. Many are now claiming that professional football players are spoiled men who believe that they are special when all they have ever done is play a game. I have certainly thought as much in the past. Of course, I prefer college football and haven’t watched a professional game since Peyton Manning’s farewell appearance in the Super Bowl two years ago.
The current turmoil is in response to massive protests by NFL players during the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” this past Sunday. While I respect the opinions of those threatening boycotts, I must ask why you didn’t feel that way when so many players were being charged with assault against their wives or girlfriends. After all, kneeling during the national anthem is protected by the First Amendment; criminal assault isn’t.
For the record, I always stand during the playing of the national anthem and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. My actions, however, are voluntary and stem from a devotion to my country. I also have no problem with schools requiring children to stand during such ceremonies, so long as this requirement does not violate individual religious beliefs or run counter to the wishes of parents.
There are some critical issues that must be addressed concerning the growing discontent with professional football. Many people are blaming the players for the “disrespect” shown to our national anthem and flag on Sunday. They seem to excuse the fact that the president of the United States, the man who should be promoting unity among citizens, created the discord with remarks made at a political rally in Alabama two days earlier. Trump not only said that any player who did not stand during the anthem should be fired but criticized the game for becoming too soft. Players who have previously kneeled were called SOBs. This was certainly a harsher reference than he bestowed upon white supremacists that carried Nazi flags in Charlottesville, Virginia. What would one expect players and owners in the NFL to do other than to take a stand?
Imagine if the leader of another nation said that athletes should either stand during the playing of their national anthem or be banned from the sport. We would call him a despot and talk about how wonderful it is to live in America where people are free. When President Trump does it, people cheer that he is making America great again. Never mind that his comments were designed to deflect attention away from his lack of substantive successes in office thus far.
Sunday morning, while preparing to attend Mass, I was greeted with a BBC article on NFL protests against President Trump’s harangue. As a result of our president throwing red meat designed to excite his base, he was rebuffed by Americans in the U.K. as well as in the U.S. There are already a substantial number of British subjects who do not want Trump to officially visit the U.K. because they perceive him to be undignified. Sunday’s actions did nothing to change their minds.
At the end of the day, I do not want a person wearing his patriotism on his sleeve to tell me I must stand during the national anthem. A free society should be just that. A free society.
Part of the joy of living free is that sometimes you hear and witness things you just do not like. It is then that you should appreciate that liberty comes with the acceptance that others have rights, too.
• Vincent J. Venturini, of Ridgeland, is the retired associate provost and former chair of the Department of Social Work at Mississippi Valley State University.
