My problem with the NFL re: National Anthem

[PredFan]

The problem is that the left has politicized everything. Sports should be an escape. A place where we can get away from that kind of nonsense. A place where a democrat and a republican could root for the same team and cheer together. Well unless they are Dolphin fans then they can cry in each other's shoulders.

But the point is that the left has ruined it, just like they destroy everything they touch.

 

[Picaro]

Time to revoke the owners' anti-trust exemptions. Football is dying off anyway, a victim of its own monopoly status and gross over-pricing. Other sports are getting higher attendance every year now, and $40 million dollar street thuggz can't even remotely pay for themselves now. I haven't watched pro game since the 1990's, and don't miss it at all. We go to the local school and league games now, and have a lot more fun, though many of the parents definitely need to be tasered and locked in a a cage at the local pound for a few months at a time.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Thank you.

I couldn't think of something polite to say in response to Jim's comment, so I just didn't post anything.

They have the same right to carry those flags as the players do in speaking their minds. Hiowever, the flagbearers are in an actual protest, not standing on a field getting ready to do their job.

Since when does protesting and self expression have temporal requirements?

It does, because when you are employed, you have no freedom of speech or expression except that granted to you by your employer.

I am sorry that the NFL Commissioner has his head so far up his own ass that he cannot see the consequences of pissing off a large portion of his company's patrons.

I guess I will just have to become a Cowboys fan as their owner is apparently the only man and the rest are just metrosexuals and women.

To the NFL and to all the team owners, as long as you are a fan of some team, it doesn't matter much which team. NFL ticket revenue is shared among teams and so long as you watch NFL games on television or WWW, or listen on the radio you'll be counted among the viewership that gives rise to broadcast revenue which is the NFL teams' single largest source of revenue.

If all other teams make zero, and Dallas makes less because of that, so be it! I doubt very seriously my following one or two teams will impact as much as if I had been watching any game that just happened to be on.

Right now, I watch college football. The pros are acting like spoiled brats, and I despise that. A 5-star recruit told my alma mater's coach that he was not getting enough playing time, so the coach granted his wish. He kicked him off the team so now he doesn't play at all and won't for a year and a half! Then he has to find another team that will put up with his ego.

You totally missed the point. The NFL is structured so the owners/teams don't need to care what Admiral Rockwell Tory thinks or does. It only cares what millions of people do or don't do, and the thing those millions need to not do, actually, is not patronize any NFL team.

The NFL's business model is one whereby it's "all or nothing" as goes fans expressing their disapprobation and actually having a material impact on NFL revenues and teams. (The only exception to that is seen in the handful of teams that own their stadium rather than their city/county/state owning it.) If fans so much as watch the games on TV, it's a profitable season for every team.

 

[PredFan]

Per the NFL rulebook:

1. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country.

Why do you not respect the flag or our country. Our country is the people. There are other ways to show your discontent with the President. People take not standing up for the flag as an insult on the United States as a unit. It makes people feel that you don't want to be here or don't like the unit as a whole (not just the administration) - and there are a lot of people that worked hard to build the US that are still alive today. There are a lot of people young and old that have risked their lives for the United States.

The thing about the flag is that it stands for freedom. And that freedom includes the opportuity to not stand during the national anthem. It is not a choice I would make, but I spent 20 years in the Corps to make sure people had the right to make such choices, even if I think they are idiots. I would like to say I have stopped watching the NFL as a result of this, but in reality I quit watching the NFL mostly due to the crappy product on the field and the way they screwed over the city of St Louis.

You are right but people also forget that the 1st Amendment only protects people from the State. An NFL field is a workplace and they can be told to stand or get fired.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Sorry! Nothing you have posted makes any sense to anyone with an elementary school education. Try again!

Especially when you haven't read the thread.

I read the thread. The fact you think you can discern whether I have or not speaks volumes about your own incompetence.

Then why ask the question?

That's for me to know, and you to respond.

You can pound sand and reread the thread while you're at it.

Goodbye!

Placing you on ignore with improve my disposition immensely and raise the IQ level of the forum.

 

[Picaro]

The problem is that the left has politicized everything. Sports should be an escape. A place where we can get away from that kind of nonsense. A place where a democrat and a republican could root for the same team and cheer together. Well unless they are Dolphin fans then they can cry in each other's shoulders.

But the point is that the left has ruined it, just like they destroy everything they touch.

Society lets that happen when they take such vermin seriously as if they have real grievances.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

They have the same right to carry those flags as the players do in speaking their minds. Hiowever, the flagbearers are in an actual protest, not standing on a field getting ready to do their job.

Since when does protesting and self expression have temporal requirements?

It does, because when you are employed, you have no freedom of speech or expression except that granted to you by your employer.

I am sorry that the NFL Commissioner has his head so far up his own ass that he cannot see the consequences of pissing off a large portion of his company's patrons.

I guess I will just have to become a Cowboys fan as their owner is apparently the only man and the rest are just metrosexuals and women.

To the NFL and to all the team owners, as long as you are a fan of some team, it doesn't matter much which team. NFL ticket revenue is shared among teams and so long as you watch NFL games on television or WWW, or listen on the radio you'll be counted among the viewership that gives rise to broadcast revenue which is the NFL teams' single largest source of revenue.

If all other teams make zero, and Dallas makes less because of that, so be it! I doubt very seriously my following one or two teams will impact as much as if I had been watching any game that just happened to be on.

Right now, I watch college football. The pros are acting like spoiled brats, and I despise that. A 5-star recruit told my alma mater's coach that he was not getting enough playing time, so the coach granted his wish. He kicked him off the team so now he doesn't play at all and won't for a year and a half! Then he has to find another team that will put up with his ego.

You totally missed the point. The NFL is structured so the owners/teams don't need to care what Admiral Rockwell Tory thinks or does. It only cares what millions of people do or don't do, and the thing those millions need to not do, actually, is not patronize any NFL team.

The NFL's business model is one whereby it's "all or nothing" as goes fans expressing their disapprobation and actually having a material impact on NFL revenues and teams. (The only exception to that is seen in the handful of teams that own their stadium rather than their city/county/state owning it.) If fans so much as watch the games on TV, it's a profitable season for every team.

Why do idiots like you work so hard to prove that you are a mental midget?

If the NFL loses millions in revenue, you seem to think they will not care! That's bullshit and even someone with a basic understanding of how the world works knows that.

It took them forever to recover after their strike. That is money they will never recover. They will likely live to regret pissing off a large number of their fans with this latest outrage when it hits their bank accounts.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

The problem is that the left has politicized everything. Sports should be an escape. A place where we can get away from that kind of nonsense. A place where a democrat and a republican could root for the same team and cheer together. Well unless they are Dolphin fans then they can cry in each other's shoulders.

But the point is that the left has ruined it, just like they destroy everything they touch.

There is a ring of truth in this.
Something about this liberal millennial generation and having a strong desire to be a victim or stand next to one. The progressive "Book of Victims" reads like Websters Dictionary.
It is so ridiculous anymore. Everything.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Since when does protesting and self expression have temporal requirements?

It does, because when you are employed, you have no freedom of speech or expression except that granted to you by your employer.

I am sorry that the NFL Commissioner has his head so far up his own ass that he cannot see the consequences of pissing off a large portion of his company's patrons.

I guess I will just have to become a Cowboys fan as their owner is apparently the only man and the rest are just metrosexuals and women.

To the NFL and to all the team owners, as long as you are a fan of some team, it doesn't matter much which team. NFL ticket revenue is shared among teams and so long as you watch NFL games on television or WWW, or listen on the radio you'll be counted among the viewership that gives rise to broadcast revenue which is the NFL teams' single largest source of revenue.

If all other teams make zero, and Dallas makes less because of that, so be it! I doubt very seriously my following one or two teams will impact as much as if I had been watching any game that just happened to be on.

Right now, I watch college football. The pros are acting like spoiled brats, and I despise that. A 5-star recruit told my alma mater's coach that he was not getting enough playing time, so the coach granted his wish. He kicked him off the team so now he doesn't play at all and won't for a year and a half! Then he has to find another team that will put up with his ego.

You totally missed the point. The NFL is structured so the owners/teams don't need to care what Admiral Rockwell Tory thinks or does. It only cares what millions of people do or don't do, and the thing those millions need to not do, actually, is not patronize any NFL team.

The NFL's business model is one whereby it's "all or nothing" as goes fans expressing their disapprobation and actually having a material impact on NFL revenues and teams. (The only exception to that is seen in the handful of teams that own their stadium rather than their city/county/state owning it.) If fans so much as watch the games on TV, it's a profitable season for every team.

Why do idiots like you work so hard to prove that you are a mental midget?

If the NFL loses millions in revenue, you seem to think they will not care! That's bullshit and even someone with a basic understanding of how the world works knows that.

It took them forever to recover after their strike. That is money they will never recover. They will likely live to regret pissing off a large number of their fans with this latest outrage when it hits their bank accounts.

Wow. Even after I explained it to you, the point went over your head. Oh, well....

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

It does, because when you are employed, you have no freedom of speech or expression except that granted to you by your employer.

I am sorry that the NFL Commissioner has his head so far up his own ass that he cannot see the consequences of pissing off a large portion of his company's patrons.

I guess I will just have to become a Cowboys fan as their owner is apparently the only man and the rest are just metrosexuals and women.

To the NFL and to all the team owners, as long as you are a fan of some team, it doesn't matter much which team. NFL ticket revenue is shared among teams and so long as you watch NFL games on television or WWW, or listen on the radio you'll be counted among the viewership that gives rise to broadcast revenue which is the NFL teams' single largest source of revenue.

If all other teams make zero, and Dallas makes less because of that, so be it! I doubt very seriously my following one or two teams will impact as much as if I had been watching any game that just happened to be on.

Right now, I watch college football. The pros are acting like spoiled brats, and I despise that. A 5-star recruit told my alma mater's coach that he was not getting enough playing time, so the coach granted his wish. He kicked him off the team so now he doesn't play at all and won't for a year and a half! Then he has to find another team that will put up with his ego.

You totally missed the point. The NFL is structured so the owners/teams don't need to care what Admiral Rockwell Tory thinks or does. It only cares what millions of people do or don't do, and the thing those millions need to not do, actually, is not patronize any NFL team.

The NFL's business model is one whereby it's "all or nothing" as goes fans expressing their disapprobation and actually having a material impact on NFL revenues and teams. (The only exception to that is seen in the handful of teams that own their stadium rather than their city/county/state owning it.) If fans so much as watch the games on TV, it's a profitable season for every team.

Why do idiots like you work so hard to prove that you are a mental midget?

If the NFL loses millions in revenue, you seem to think they will not care! That's bullshit and even someone with a basic understanding of how the world works knows that.

It took them forever to recover after their strike. That is money they will never recover. They will likely live to regret pissing off a large number of their fans with this latest outrage when it hits their bank accounts.

Wow. Even after I explained it to you, the point went over your head. Oh, well....

You must have been talking to yourself. I knew all of that. You, of course, ignored my explanation of why your explanation is complete bullshit!

You mental midgets don't seem to care how stupid you make yourselves look. Don't you have a statue to remove somewhere?

 

[JoeB131]

Who says they aren't entitled to their opinions? I never said any such thing. I'm sure they have plenty of time to go protest somewhere about something.

Yup. But in front of a nationwide audience is more effective. Don't like it? Don't watch.

How many people here protest or bring their politics to work with them? They are taking advantage of being on camera is all, by doing something silly and unproductive, even counter productive.

Well, no, the fact we are talking about it tells me they are being productive.

 

[JoeB131]

Yeah, and I'm sure if even one of these guys dared to stand up and say something positive about America or about the current POTUS, the "liberals" would say, "it's their right to say Trump is a great guy!"

Well, if anyone says that, I usually question their sanity or intelligence.

You don't like how the police treat blacks? Protest the police.
You don't like white supremacists? Go protest white supremacists.
You don't like homosexuals being denied service in businesses? Go protest the businesses.
The American flag and this country does not stand for those things.

Well, it does if it is still being allowed to go on in this country, doesn't it?

How do I know? Because the American flag has covered many men and women on their last trip home, men and women who have fought for freedom, liberty, equality, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, and every other Constitutional Right, regardless of race, color, religion, or sex.

And when was the last time any of those things actually at stake? 1945?

Look, we have a great country, but we also have a country with a lot of things wrong with it. Our biggest problem isn't in a desert on the other side of the world, it's here at home if we can buy 400 million dollar airplanes that can't fly in the rain but can't fund school lunches.

 

[JoeB131]

Football games are for football, entertainment, relaxation. Leave your ******* politics at the door please. That is NOT why people are buying tickets, fuckwads.

Maybe not. But maybe we need to have someone get into our face about these problems to address them.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Why do idiots like you work so hard to prove that you are a mental midget?

If the NFL loses millions in revenue, you seem to think they will not care! That's bullshit and even someone with a basic understanding of how the world works knows that.

It took them forever to recover after their strike. That is money they will never recover. They will likely live to regret pissing off a large number of their fans with this latest outrage when it hits their bank accounts.

Do the owners look like they are hurting from the money lost in the strike? They are already talking about there being another strike.

The NFL will have over 14 billion in revenue this year, that more than the tax revenue of half the states in the country.

This is a planned effort by the NFL to broaden their viewing audience. Right now 37% of NFL viewers are people over the age of 55 and another 34% are between 35 and 54. Also 71% of NFL viewers are white. So, basically you have a bunch of middle age/old white guys watching the NFL. That is not a good plan for future revenue. Younger people are more apt to side with the people doing the protest as are those who are not white.

So, while the NFL might ,and that is a might, take a hit in the short run, they will expand their viewer base in the long run.

 

[gtopa1]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should!

Freedom of expression is about protecting words we don't like, not just words we do like. You would want your opinion heard.

Look at it this way: We have one end of the political spectrum loudly saying that our Constitution was written by rich, white slave rapists; that our national anthem is racist; that the country is racist; that our country is greedy; that our history and traditions must be rubbed out and/or changed. Their opinion of this country is pretty clear.

Trump's presence in the White House is largely about a pushback on those sentiments, so if you're a Trump fan, you should be pretty happy that these people have the freedom to say this stuff.

That's the beauty (at least one of them) of freedom of expression.
.

And I have the freedom to express my opinions of their opinions.

Yup.

But I do think you owe some of these folks a big ol' Thank You card.


.

Perfect ad for the Mid-terms...if one is a Republican.

Greg

 

[beagle9]

Football games are for football, entertainment, relaxation. Leave your ******* politics at the door please. That is NOT why people are buying tickets, fuckwads.

Maybe not. But maybe we need to have someone get into our face about these problems to address them.

. Highjacking venues like the NFL or other is robbing the sports fans of their right to get what they paid their money to see, and it was not to see an activist kneeling in disrespect to our flag in this country that covers everyone. The NFL is a bunch of no good sorry human beings for allowing the NFL to become a dam protest platform for those who targeted it for that reason.. Sure the cape crusader can't play, because he is an activist posing as a player. One things for sure, and that is that the left sure knows how to set Trump up. They are going to play this racist crap into the ground. It's all they got, and they ain't got nothing with that card being thrown willy nilly over anything now. People are on to the bullcrap. Michael Brown was the poster child for the movement, and look at who that cat was now. Then Innocent cops were slaughtered over that thug with BLM yelling "what do we want "dead cop's", when do we want them "now". Pathetic.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Per the NFL rulebook:

1. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country.

2017 Rulebook

The link above is for the PDF download of the rulebook. Doing a search for the word "country," one finds that word does not appear in the whole of the document. Searching for the word "judged," one finds it four times and none of them is in the sentence you've indicated. Accordingly, I deem that the so-called rule you (your mother?) claims is in the rulebook is wholly fabricated.

So now I have found out who is the real source for the statement about what's in the NFL rulebook: a Facebook comment by Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie. (See the comments re: the New England Patriots post here: New England Patriots on MassLive.com)

Who is Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie?

• She's a woman who's apparently done nothing to distinguish herself from the millions of other women on the planet. Googling her name returns not one thing other than indicators that she exists.

What portfolio has Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie?

• None that militates construing her as someone who knows what she's talking about as goes what the NFL's rules are.
• None as goes her ability to accurately repeat information that has come her way.

The passage Lanoie cited came not from the "NFL League Rulebook" as she claimed, but rather from a document called the "game operations manual," at least according to Time. From where Lanoie got the manual or learned of it's content is anybody's guess. I cannot find the document on the NFL's website.

The magazine also reports that "'The league’s Game Operations Department uses the manual to govern the conduct of home clubs, to ensure they protect players and provide the conditions for a fair and fan-friendly contest,' reads the NFL's website."

According to Time and an NFL spokesperson, the Game Operations Manual states:

The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.

During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.​

my Mom shared this with me so I'm assume its accurate but will see if I can find the link

Is Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie your mom? Of course, she need not be; Lanoie's FB post is stated to have gone viral.

I don't know what "gone viral" means in a quantitative sense. Qualitatively, I understand it to mean many people have seen the post and propagated it, apparently without confirming its accuracy.

 

[usmbguest5318]

Football games are for football, entertainment, relaxation. Leave your ******* politics at the door please. That is NOT why people are buying tickets, fuckwads.

Maybe not. But maybe we need to have someone get into our face about these problems to address them.

. Highjacking venues like the NFL or other is robbing the sports fans of their right to get what they paid their money to see, and it was not to see an activist kneeling in disrespect to our flag in this country that covers everyone. The NFL is a bunch of no good sorry human beings for allowing the NFL to become a dam protest platform for those who targeted it for that reason.. Sure the cape crusader can't play, because he is an activist posing as a player. One things for sure, and that is that the left sure knows how to set Trump up. They are going to play this racist crap into the ground. It's all they got, and they ain't got nothing with that card being thrown willy nilly over anything now. People are on to the bullcrap. Michael Brown was the poster child for the movement, and look at who that cat was now. Then Innocent cops were slaughtered over that thug with BLM yelling "what do we want "dead cop's", when do we want them "now". Pathetic.

The NFL is a bunch of no good sorry human beings for allowing the NFL to become a dam protest platform for those who targeted it for that reason

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.
-- SCOTUS, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (No. 591)​

Get yourself appointed to the SCOTUS so you can possibly overturn Barnette, and so your opinion on the matter will matter.

Highjacking venues like the NFL or other is robbing the sports fans of their right to get what they paid their money to see

1. No hijacking occurred. What NFL game did not transpire as scheduled because of Kaepernick's kneeling protest?
2. What do NFL teams promise to provide in exchange for fan's ticket money? Without being overly legalistic, they promise to provide a seat or standing space from which the fan can observe the players on two teams compete in a football game. (Click the link if you want to see what exactly they promise and the language of the ticket terms.)
   
   Regardless of what else one may see, one does indeed get to see what the team offers to provide, and, quite frankly, that is all a ticket buyer has claim to or right to demand. You don't have to like that, but then you also don't have to buy a ticket.

The NFL is a bunch of no good sorry human beings for allowing the NFL to become a dam protest platform

Well, the precedent of sports figures protesting before, during and after their games is over 100 years old and is unique to neither the NFL nor the USA.

• 1906 -- Peter O’Connor -- At the 1906 Olympics (also known as the Intercalated Games), Irish long jumper Peter O’Connor protested after his second-place finish was honored by the raising of the British flag. Wishing to only represent Ireland, and not the whole of Britain, O’Connor scaled the flagpole and waved the Irish flag himself while fellow countryman Con Leahy guarded him at the foot of the pole.
  
  
• 1960 -- Taiwanese Olympic Team -- The IOC didn't allow Taiwan's team to compete under the name Republic of China, instead forcing the team to be recognized as Taiwan or Formosa. The whole team entered the games behind the sign "Under Protest."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 1968 -- John Carlos and Tommie Smith -- At the Mexico City Olympics, when runners John Carlos and Tommie Smith famously raised their fists in the Black Power salute after winning bronze and gold medals, respectively, while the national anthem played.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 2004 to 2006 -- Carlos Delgado -- Beginning in the 2004 season Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado decided to no longer stand for "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch of Major League Baseball games. In the 7th inning Delgado would stand silently in protest in the dugout. Delgado began to stand again in 2006 when he joined the NY Mets.
• 2010 -- Phoenix Suns team -- In their May 5, 2010 playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Phoenix Suns "Los Suns" jerseys to protest Arizona's then new immigration law.
• 2014 -- LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Jarret Jack and Kevin Garnett -- Each wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts in reference to the last words of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man who died after a police officer placed him in a chokehold. They were part of a string of athletes sporting similar shirts during warm-ups in recognition of the protests that stemmed from the lack of indictment of the officer who killed Garner.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 2014 -- Five St. Louis Rams -- Five St. Louis Rams players took to the field during a game against the Oakland Raiders with the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” pose made iconic by the protests in Ferguson.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 2014 -- Ariyana Smith -- The Knox College athlete, during the singing of the national anthem, walked onto the court with her hands raised and fell to the floor for four and a half minutes to protest the police killing of Michael Brown.
  
  
  
  
• An entire career in baseball -- Throughout his long and respected career, Shawn Green refused to play in games which fell on Yom Kippur. Green, an all-star right fielder for the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Mets sat out regardless of his team's need for his bat or their position in a September pennant race.
  
• Other protest/advocacy actions by athletes:
  • Suns to Wear 'Los Suns' Jerseys to Protest Law
    
  • A Brief History Of Racial Protest In Sports
    
  • Looking back at the 10 biggest social justice protests by athletes over the last 20 years

Is there a designated right or wrong time and place to protest? Well, mostly no. [1] Readers here need not agree with me on that, but that one disagrees doesn't alter the fact that there is no designated time or place for anyone to express themselves.

 

[Bonzi]

Per the NFL rulebook:

1. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country.

2017 Rulebook

The link above is for the PDF download of the rulebook. Doing a search for the word "country," one finds that word does not appear in the whole of the document. Searching for the word "judged," one finds it four times and none of them is in the sentence you've indicated. Accordingly, I deem that the so-called rule you (your mother?) claims is in the rulebook is wholly fabricated.

So now I have found out who is the real source for the statement about what's in the NFL rulebook: a Facebook comment by Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie. (See the comments re: the New England Patriots post here: New England Patriots on MassLive.com)

Who is Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie?

• She's a woman who's apparently done nothing to distinguish herself from the millions of other women on the planet. Googling her name returns not one thing other than indicators that she exists.

What portfolio has Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie?

• None that militates construing her as someone who knows what she's talking about as goes what the NFL's rules are.
• None as goes her ability to accurately repeat information that has come her way.

The passage Lanoie cited came not from the "NFL League Rulebook" as she claimed, but rather from a document called the "game operations manual," at least according to Time. From where Lanoie got the manual or learned of it's content is anybody's guess. I cannot find the document on the NFL's website.

The magazine also reports that "'The league’s Game Operations Department uses the manual to govern the conduct of home clubs, to ensure they protect players and provide the conditions for a fair and fan-friendly contest,' reads the NFL's website."

According to Time and an NFL spokesperson, the Game Operations Manual states:

The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.

During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.​

my Mom shared this with me so I'm assume its accurate but will see if I can find the link

Is Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie your mom? Of course, she need not be; Lanoie's FB post is stated to have gone viral.

I don't know what "gone viral" means in a quantitative sense. Qualitatively, I understand it to mean many people have seen the post and propagated it, apparently without confirming its accuracy.

There is a lot of that (quoting without confirming accuracy).
Most people are here for banter, not real, true and accurate discussion.
I will admit to being lazy as well

 

[usmbguest5318]

Per the NFL rulebook:

1. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country.

2017 Rulebook

The link above is for the PDF download of the rulebook. Doing a search for the word "country," one finds that word does not appear in the whole of the document. Searching for the word "judged," one finds it four times and none of them is in the sentence you've indicated. Accordingly, I deem that the so-called rule you (your mother?) claims is in the rulebook is wholly fabricated.

So now I have found out who is the real source for the statement about what's in the NFL rulebook: a Facebook comment by Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie. (See the comments re: the New England Patriots post here: New England Patriots on MassLive.com)

Who is Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie?

• She's a woman who's apparently done nothing to distinguish herself from the millions of other women on the planet. Googling her name returns not one thing other than indicators that she exists.

What portfolio has Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie?

• None that militates construing her as someone who knows what she's talking about as goes what the NFL's rules are.
• None as goes her ability to accurately repeat information that has come her way.

The passage Lanoie cited came not from the "NFL League Rulebook" as she claimed, but rather from a document called the "game operations manual," at least according to Time. From where Lanoie got the manual or learned of it's content is anybody's guess. I cannot find the document on the NFL's website.

The magazine also reports that "'The league’s Game Operations Department uses the manual to govern the conduct of home clubs, to ensure they protect players and provide the conditions for a fair and fan-friendly contest,' reads the NFL's website."

According to Time and an NFL spokesperson, the Game Operations Manual states:

The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem.

During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.​

my Mom shared this with me so I'm assume its accurate but will see if I can find the link

Is Kathleen McSweeney Lanoie your mom? Of course, she need not be; Lanoie's FB post is stated to have gone viral.

I don't know what "gone viral" means in a quantitative sense. Qualitatively, I understand it to mean many people have seen the post and propagated it, apparently without confirming its accuracy.

There is a lot of that (quoting without confirming accuracy).
Most people are here for banter, not real, true and accurate discussion.
I will admit to being lazy as well

I will admit to being lazy as well

Okay. That's fair. We all are on occasion.

"Owning one's sh*t" is a good way to "after the fact" handle one's laziness. It's at least honest, which, quite frankly, is hard to come by, even though it should not be.