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Imagine standing at a football game during the national anthem. Then you see something odd, something you don’t see often. Players sitting during the national anthem. You ask yourself, would I ever protest the national anthem if I had the choice? This scenario is happening way too often. Players should not be protesting the national anthem just to get some attention. Pro athletes have gone too far because it is not the right time to protest, little kids are looking up to the pro players, and thousands of people have died so they can kneel and not honor those men and women. Pro athletes are trying to get more attention while protesting during the national anthem. It is not the right time. According to the article, “If pro athletes can kneel
In the late 80s to mid-2000s, steroids changed the way baseball was played. It became known as “The Steroid Era,” and it is a part of history that baseball wants to forget. The players during this time did some of the greatest things to ever happen to baseball such as Barry Bonds breaking the single season homerun record with 73, and Roger Clemens winning his record seventh Cy Young Award (Ortiz). These are Hall of Fame worthy stats, but they have a very slim chance of ever getting into the Hall of Fame because they are linked to using Performance Enhancement Drugs. These players should be allowed into the Hall of Fame because of their accomplishments, but they need to have a wing dedicated to “The Steroid Era” players because conditions change so dramatically in different eras that it is hard to compare them to players now (Ringolsby). Even though PED users cheated the game, they should be allowed into the Hall of Fame if they have their own wing. They played in a different era than the players now, and it is hard to compare the different eras.
Stephanie Slade, a libertarian and a deputy managing editor for Reason magazine, wrote an article asking the question “Is watching football unethical?” She presents evidence, that we will review, that professional football players are being harmed by playing their game. She then lays out a series of analogies about, what she feels, are related topics and compares them to football players. She never answers her own question, but you do get the distinct feeling that she thinks people should stop watching professional football. She never defines ethics and assumes that everyone would see injustice in the trends she points out. I don’t agree with Ms. Slade and I don’t see injustice in the sad case of these players.
... room for adults to be playing a child’s game instead of going to school. If athletes want to play that bad because they feel that they are good enough then they have to make sacrifices. I am not against talented individuals playing professional sports but I am against those who do not obtain a degree and actually get something out of college before doing so. Written in an article published by USA Today “in 2009 that 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or facing serious financial stress within two years of ending their playing careers and that 60percent of NBA players are broke within five years of retiring from the game” (Wiles, 2012). Professional athletics is not all about fame and being filthy rich and this is something that young college students don’t understand. It is essential to better yourself and obtain a degree, there is more to life than just sports.
The NFL in particular is known for its focus on order, power and control, where operations are anonymous and interchangeable. With that players and employees are none else than compliant with league regulations. In this case Colin Kaepernick’s protest had the ability to go against the grain and break the façade of being afraid to voice his opinions. Today’s generation has become very open to sharing their opinions on social issues and Kapernick’s protest is just an addition. This protest instantly became political because of the fact that police brutality and racial is becoming a persistently uncomfortable issue that our country is facing. Every single there is something new about citizens being killed by the police for no reason, including recent cases such as Philando Castle and Terence Crutcher. Such issues will not be resolved until our society stands against it as a whole. It takes public figures such as Colin Kaepernick to stand with citizens to bring awareness about these issues in order to force change in the government and society. Whether industry leaders like it or not, I believe that such protest will continue to grow. Athletes and entertainers will continue to voice their opinions about social issues until changes come into effect.
In college there are hated rivals that can’t stand each other. This causes college fans to have lots of pride in their teams. College stadiums also have student sections, which take the atmosphere on game day to the next level. College players know how the fans feel. This inspires them to play their hardest, and leave everything on the field to represent their school. In the NFL, instead of playing for a team because you want to represent them, players will play for teams who offer them the longest and largest contracts. Players hold out from participating in training camp because they want a bigger contract, and some even sit out games. The NFL seems to be more like a business, and geared towards making money. NFL players holding out, and being focused on money angers fans. Not all players are like this, but fans feel that the ones like this are being
It is disrespectful to kneel during the national anthem because it disrespects the military and veterans, and could be done in a more professional way. I feel that kneeling shows how unappreciative those NFL players are. They get to go play the most popular sport in America for millions of dollars. There should be some consequences from taking this action. This protest could be done in a more professional way.
Kneeling During the National Anthem You have probably seen the debate across the news covering the controversial protest of kneeling during the National Anthem. This protest has stirred up conversation throughout the nation. Is kneeling during the anthem an appropriate way to protest? Supporters think that the celebrities are smart by using their fame to bring attention to America’s problems, but others think that football games are not the appropriate place to focus on politics.
Henry Gass states, “The prospect of athletes speaking up has always been fraught” (2). Carl Stoffers states, “Many accused [Kaepernick] of thumbing his nose at America by not joining in a patriotic ritual that’s long been a fixture at sporting events” (8). Include the fact that the NFL which Kaepernick plays “[is] a league that promotes itself as a war game and brands itself with the flag” (Jenkins). Doubters are quick to label him unpatriotic because the place and time he protested might be wrong. The NFL show respect to military officials, Roger Goodell says, “The NFL believes very strongly in patriotism” (Jenkins). The military and American football has the same symbolic values. Carl Stoffers writes Starn says “[American is] the most sports-obsessed society in the history of the world, and we’re also a nation that’s obsessed with patriotism and pride in identity” (9). The national Anthem and the flag are symbols that American people believe make someone patriotic. Professor Blackistone writes, “[Kaepernick] dare to protest in the athletic arena, where [Americans] wrap sporting events in a prophylactic of patriotism used to demand political conformity and suppress discourse” (gtd. in
The Star Spangled Banner is a sacred song in the United States of America. It not only is a symbol of the fight that soldiers have had to go through, but also a representation of freedom. When the National Anthem plays out of respect for our country, and those who fought for it, everyone is supposed to stand and remove their hats. Currently in the National Football League (NFL) there is a handful of players, mainly African Americans, that have been taking a knee or raising a fist during the play of our National Anthem. This I believe, is a great sign of disrespect for our country and our veterans. This I believe, is very immature and unnecessary. This I believe, should be put to a stop by the NFL and the players should be ashamed of himself for doing this. I am aware that the players have the right to do this, but there are many reasons why this should not be taking place.
When situations occur when the fans and the athletes get into confrontations, both the athlete and the fans involved must be held responsible. Too often fans get too rowdy and incite confrontations, by throwing cups of beer, chairs, fists and at times even screaming racial slurs. In almost every case of player/fan altercations, the athlete is viewed as the perpetrator in the eye of public opinion. In the view of many major media outlets such as ESPN and various network and cable news segments, and as well as in those of sportswriters, the fans have leverage because their tickets, concessions, and their contributions in television ratings collectively pay for the salaries of these athletes. In other words, the fans pay the bills of the athlete, so it’s almost as if they can do no wrong. However the flaw in this logic is that too little blame is placed on the fan and management’s lack of control of their behavior. In the case such as the one which the riot occurred in Detroit, fans should be held just as accountable as the athletes and justice should be served not only within the jurisdiction of the NBA, but also of the law.
“Politics have no place in sports”. So, now that we have you all caught up, let's dig into the question at hand. Do NFL players have the right to protest the National Anthem while they are on the clock? Players are saying it is freedom of speech. While everyday Americans are saying it is a double standard, they could not do that without being fired from their jobs.
and their livelihood, endorsements and possible prison time. We must take this issue with more than a grain of salt and step up and do what is right for our athletes of all sports.
The money given to the athletes could be used for more probable causes. Recently Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers signed a contract for 252 million dollars over a span of 10 years. This is enough money to feed the nation's poor for a year or to provide a lot more housing and shelters for the homeless. Others could benefit from the millions being wasted on these athletes. Not because the players don’t earn the money but because it could just be better spent on more important issues in our communities.
...e else wrote. But most importantly, they feel that all that money they get could be put to better use by paying the military more, paying our teachers more, and by paying our public services more. The average MLB player makes 1.5 million (Bliss), now cut that down to 100 thousand. Now put the 1.4 million into schools funding and increase the teachers pay, put it into soldiers pay, and put it into the public services pay. So what does this do? Now suddenly you have more teachers to help the children prepare for their bright future, more people wanting to join the military, more police officers to keep the cities safer, and more firefighters to help stop more fires, whether they’re in the woods or in the town.Athletes still make enough money to live on and then some and the economy will start to recover much faster. It wouldn’t be long until America was really America.
Fans might now that athletes on and of the field participate in all kinds of illegal and immoral activity, but overall perception of athletes representing goodness reigns as a supreme myth” (Whitt & Perlich, 2014,