POLL: What should the punishment be for protesting football players?

[Synthaholic]

Okay, yes, another thread on this, sue me.

Let's get specific on what should not be done to players who kneel or sit or dance or sleep or do yoga during the national anthem. Please pick and explain.

My answer was "No punishment". If the team is okay with it, so am I.
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Why should there be punishment for exercising your Constitutional right?

I have a constitutional right to talk about hating Jews, or wishing all left-handed people would leave the country, or how disgusting people from Italy are.....do you think that means employers must allow me to talk about those things while I'm at work?

Just because a person has a constitutional right to do something, does not mean there cannot be non-governmental punishment for doing that thing.

To give another example, if my employer has a policy that carrying a gun is not allowed at the workplace, do you think my employer cannot punish me for wearing a holstered pistol on the job?

But what none of you want to acknowledge is the fact that the owners have no interest in firing players. The players are the product.

 

[Pogo]

Are you upset because we have a president doing what his supporters expected from him, Pogo?

On the contrary. He's doing exactly what I've been warning for over two years that he would do. He's bending over backward to prove me right.

As his Orangeness himself noted, correctly, he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and not lose votes. That's not a comment on him. It's a comment on you.

 

[Montrovant]

Okay, yes, another thread on this, sue me.

Let's get specific on what should not be done to players who kneel or sit or dance or sleep or do yoga during the national anthem. Please pick and explain.

My answer was "No punishment". If the team is okay with it, so am I.
.

Why should there be punishment for exercising your Constitutional right?

I have a constitutional right to talk about hating Jews, or wishing all left-handed people would leave the country, or how disgusting people from Italy are.....do you think that means employers must allow me to talk about those things while I'm at work?

Just because a person has a constitutional right to do something, does not mean there cannot be non-governmental punishment for doing that thing.

To give another example, if my employer has a policy that carrying a gun is not allowed at the workplace, do you think my employer cannot punish me for wearing a holstered pistol on the job?

But what none of you want to acknowledge is the fact that the owners have no interest in firing players. The players are the product.

That has nothing to do with the fact that something being a constitutional right does not mean it is something an employer must allow without punishment.

I don't know what "you" you are arbitrarily grouping me with, but I have no problem saying that the owners don't want to fire players. Firing isn't the only possible punishment.

 

[Montrovant]

Okay, yes, another thread on this, sue me.

Let's get specific on what should not be done to players who kneel or sit or dance or sleep or do yoga during the national anthem. Please pick and explain.

My answer was "No punishment". If the team is okay with it, so am I.
.

Why should there be punishment for exercising your Constitutional right?

For the thousandth fucking time, the Constitution protects your right to free speech from GOVERNMENT INFRINGEMENT...your boss can still fire you for making an impassioned protest ON COMPANY TIME!

But they're not interested in firing them! Especially not because some bedwetting snowflakes are throwing a hissy-fit.

Without the players they have no product to sell.

And "company time" starts when the whistle blows.

Who are you to decide that company time starts when the whistle blows? That's ridiculous, do you honestly think that the NFL players are only employed for 16 hours a year?

 

[Geaux4it]

A store here close to me in TN posted on FB that they have pulled products that endorse the NFL. They pulled Pepsi and a couple others.

-Geaux

And do you think Pepsi gives a shit about some Podunk backwoods rednecks not having Pepsi for their cousin-wives?

Yes, as the movement is growing

-Geaux

 

[Fueri]

I was tired of it last year and I'm sick of it now.

This is not what I'm watching for.

We have days for this and days for that, and that is fine. When each and every game starts with a political protest it sets a tone I want no part of.

My viewership tapered off last year and I haven't watched a game all year this year- and not even because of a conscious decision not to, but rather because it seems to have joined the list of things I've decided aren't worth my time because it has become clear that this is not about sport any longer.

I stopped watching basketball when that was taken over by classless players that didn't respect the game enough to carry the jocks of Johnson, Bird, Jabbar, Jordan et al. I pulled way back from baseball when salaries spiraled out of control and then the bastards went on strike. I'm doing the same now and the underlying reason is the same. I watched to see good competition among skilled athletes that respected each other and the game they played. The instant the primary focus of those athletes clearly shifted away from those things I drifted away from them.

As to the OP, that is up to the ownership of the teams. It's their party they can cry if they want to.....

 

[dannyboys]

I used to employ a LOT of people in my FF outlets.
I made a point of ONLY hiring them as 'call-ins'.
ANYONE who brought their 'issues' to work, whether religious or political or personnel who was disrupting the work product by causing other employees to have to put up with their shit soon wondered why my managers weren't calling these assholes in for shifts.
The owners will very soon realise their bottom lines are being affected.
As this happens watch for certain players to be benched and eventually not have their contracts renewed.
This is NOT going away.
By mid season the stands will be half empty.
Remember. It's the people with MONEY who buy the advertiser's products and the game tickets AKA the MAKERS!!!! AKA REPS!.

 

[Mac1958]

As to the OP, that is up to the ownership of the teams. It's their party they can cry if they want to.....

This is actually the most interesting part of this story for me.

No doubt a lot of owners don't like this, but they've had to do the calculus: Risk alienating the players and (more scary) the players union, plus some fans, or risk alienating other fans. That's a no-win situation right there. I'm sure they're just hoping this whole thing will blow over soon.
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[Fueri]

As to the OP, that is up to the ownership of the teams. It's their party they can cry if they want to.....

This is actually the most interesting part of this story for me.

No doubt a lot of owners don't like this, but they've had to do the calculus: Risk alienating the players and (more scary) the players union, plus some fans, or risk alienating other fans. That's a no-win situation right there. I'm sure they're just hoping this whole thing will blow over soon.
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I think you're right in that they just want this over with.

They've got the hot button of race wrapped up into a multi billion dollar business. I don't envy them that. There is no product without the players and there is no revenue without fans. It seems they realize they've got more fans than players and can therefore afford to lose fans moreso than they can afford to lose players.

Not that they'd 'lose' players either, as what would these guys be doing otherwise, but you have to keep the troops happy, and I imagine they've rationalized that there's no way to stop it without draconian measures which could set off a war with the players union and they sure as hell don't want that for many reasons.

It's math. And I totally get it from that perspective, as they're right. They've made the right business decision, imo, although it will cost them some fans. As a fan, however, it's just more validation that I, and the other fans, really are meaningless to these people from the top to the bottom of these organizations. That's what drove me off of baseball and that is what has me drifting away from football.

And, again, I get the math. This is a no-win for the owners, so they're circling the wagons, acting as if they support their players, (when in reality, imo, that's just a business desicision), and hoping this blows over.

And here's the thing- it will by and large. They'll lose some, sure, but for many, if not most, Sunday football is so ingrained into the fabric of our lives that it isn't going anywhere. The millionaires will come out just fine in the end...

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know, I watched Sarah Sanders give her press briefing today, and one of the things she kept saying is that the NFL had disrespected the military by not showing respect to the flag or the anthem.

I got news for Sarah..................I actually enlisted and served over 20 years, and NOWHERE in my oath of enlistment did it say anything about the flag or the anthem.

However.................there were words in there that said I would support and defend the Constitution of the US from all enemies, foreign and domestic, as well as there was wording that said I would faithfully carry out the orders of those appointed over me.

NOTHING was mentioned about the flag or the anthem. And, if I believe in defending the Constitution like I swore I did, then I would also defend the right of those players to take a knee as an expression of free speech allowed under the Constitution.

And no...................they aren't protesting "on the job", they are protesting just before they go to work, because as another poster said, their "job" actually starts when the starting whistle is blown, and ends when the clock runs out.

 

[RASTAMEN]

Just saw on the tube, a NFL player is arrested every seven days.

Perhaps they should be concentrating on different matters and cease being thugs

Flag waving so-called CONSERVATIVES in this country can't dictate their failed ideology on the entire country as if it were the 20th Century. What needs to happen next the black players (especially) Alabama need to support Kaepernick as well and lock arms or not standing for the National Anthem or black players across division I football

SCREW CONSERVATIVE FLAG WAVERS.

 

[Montrovant]

You know, I watched Sarah Sanders give her press briefing today, and one of the things she kept saying is that the NFL had disrespected the military by not showing respect to the flag or the anthem.

I got news for Sarah..................I actually enlisted and served over 20 years, and NOWHERE in my oath of enlistment did it say anything about the flag or the anthem.

However.................there were words in there that said I would support and defend the Constitution of the US from all enemies, foreign and domestic, as well as there was wording that said I would faithfully carry out the orders of those appointed over me.

NOTHING was mentioned about the flag or the anthem. And, if I believe in defending the Constitution like I swore I did, then I would also defend the right of those players to take a knee as an expression of free speech allowed under the Constitution.

And no...................they aren't protesting "on the job", they are protesting just before they go to work, because as another poster said, their "job" actually starts when the starting whistle is blown, and ends when the clock runs out.

The idea that NFL players are only on the job between whistles is ridiculous. They aren't on the job at practice? They aren't on the job while wearing the team uniform on the sidelines? Do you honestly believe the players could do whatever they feel like in those situations because they aren't on the job?

 

[GHook93]

Okay, yes, another thread on this, sue me.

Let's get specific on what should not be done to players who kneel or sit or dance or sleep or do yoga during the national anthem. Please pick and explain.

My answer was "No punishment". If the team is okay with it, so am I.
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Punishment from who? The government? No punishment from come from them.

However the league or individual teams can create rules to punish them. I say it should be a $1 mil fine. Make it hurt. If they want to kneel, fine, but your will pay.


Sent from my iPhone using USMessageBoard.com

 

[Correll]

Boom! Half the conservatives on this forum just got a hard-on.

You are a race baiting cocksucker asshole. FUck you.

 

[Correll]

We finally have a president who isn't afraid to speak for the millions of people who think the NFL is being disrespectful.

........ and yet can't explain how.

What's there to explain?

--- see what I mean?

This is the first I have heard some one pretend to be confused about HOW the players are disrespecting the Flag, the nation it stands for, and it's [sic] proud citizens.

And another one chimes in demonstrating that the question can't be answered.



I love making pretzels.

It's just so easy. They twist themselves.

Ok, stupid, I will explain to you as I would a slow witted child.


Standing as a group to show respect for the Flag is showing respect to that with the flag represents, ie America and the American people, AND the idea that we are all loyal together to each other.


By actively NOT standing in such a way as to reject that, the players are showing their DISrespect for all of that.


I hope I dumbed that down enough for you.

 

[Pogo]

........ and yet can't explain how.

What's there to explain?

--- see what I mean?

This is the first I have heard some one pretend to be confused about HOW the players are disrespecting the Flag, the nation it stands for, and it's [sic] proud citizens.

And another one chimes in demonstrating that the question can't be answered.



I love making pretzels.

It's just so easy. They twist themselves.

Ok, stupid, I will explain to you as I would a slow witted child.


Standing as a group to show respect for the Flag is showing respect to that with the flag represents, ie America and the American people, AND the idea that we are all loyal together to each other.


By actively NOT standing in such a way as to reject that, the players are showing their DISrespect for all of that.


I hope I dumbed that down enough for you.

Close -- but let me fix that last part for ya. Actually let me rewrite the whole thing.

Standing as a group to show respect for the flag (it's not capitialized unless you're worshiping it) represents the robotic mob mentality of a sheep who does what he's told without question. Not standing for it means that robot has attained sentience and is now starting to question what he's ordered to do and why he's ordered to do it.

In that sense, yes, the sentient is showing disrespect for the idea of robotic mob mentality. Which it absolutely deserves, always and forever.

The "Flag" isn't even involved in that. It's just a pawn you're hiding behind.

Hope this wasn't too complex.

 

[2aguy]

Okay, yes, another thread on this, sue me.

Let's get specific on what should not be done to players who kneel or sit or dance or sleep or do yoga during the national anthem. Please pick and explain.

My answer was "No punishment". If the team is okay with it, so am I.
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Take a knee, take a seat...have them sit out the entire game...that should fix them.

 

[2aguy]

Trump caused this for calling them names and calling out the whole NFL.

What's his punishment ?

No....he was simply exercising his freedom of speech...which he actually has since he is a customer of the NFL, and not an NFL employee....which they are.

 

[2aguy]

Punishment for exercising one's 1st Amendment rights? This IS America, is it not?

They don't have a 1st Amendment Right, they are at work. The 1st Amendment protection only applies to the government infringing on freedom of speech, private businesses can set their rules for their companies.

 

[eagle1462010]