So I’m currently watching the Seahawks preseason game. For the national anthem they had someone sign it as another guy plays guitar.
The thing is though, not once did they ever have the signer center camera. It was the players or the guitar player.
Lol seriously what was the point of all that?
That was about the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. LOL
Wow, raise your hand if it took you an embarrassing amount of time to figure out that the OP wasn’t accidentally misspelling “singing” and “singer”. 
But now that I (think I) understand what your complaint is, I still don’t understand why you’re making it. Were the signer’s gestures clearly visible on camera, even though the signer wasn’t in the center of the shot? AIUI, that’s all that Deaf people need in order to be able to follow along a signed version of speech or song. (And, y’know, Deaf people enjoy watching the performer(s) even while they’re keeping an eye on the signed version, after all.)
If, on the other hand, the signer was not in the shot or the signing wasn’t clearly shown at any point in the anthem, then I agree with you that the signer is pretty much useless for viewers of the broadcast performance. (Maybe still helpful to Deaf fans watching live in the stadium, though?)
I’ve noticed the same thing during the Superbowl; we see the sign language interpreter at the beginning but then they disappear from the broadcast. Perhaps the sign language is meant for the in-person audience?
It was the latter. I mean they could have at least put the bubble at the bottom corner as they often do with signers. But they couldn’t be bothered I guess.
I asked my wife, who was a teacher of the Deaf, and she said unless there was a close up shot of the signer up on the scoreboard (and it’s possible there was a seperate camera on the signer,) the people in the stands wouldn’t be able to make out much more than arm movements.
Different team , different sport - but I know at MLB games what’s shown on the big screen is not always the same as what’s shown on the TV broadcast.
I’m wondering though, what exactly is the purpose of a signer for the national anthem. I kind of understand it for speeches and even for other songs - but how many people are watching the game who both 1) don’t know the lyrics and also 2) don’t know it’s the national anthem that’s played before the game?
I expect context clues (people standing, the flag, the honor guard, etc) let even hearing impaired people understand that the national anthem is being performed.
Might I ask you to reflect on how ableist and exclusionary this is?
Song lyrics, signed, are often a garbled mess.
The signer seems like(I’m guessing) they are trying to keep in some rhythm to the music. I discount that.
If emergency broadcasts and weather alerts are done logically I feel better about it.
Of course I’m hearing. But I’m drawn to read the hands.
Entertainment is hit or miss on most things. Can’t even trust the closed caption. It’s often hilariously messed up.
My question is why sign at all when the song was guitar only?
Might I ask you to explain why it’s exclusionary and ableist? I can understand signing a speech because the audience doesn’t know in advance what’s being said.I can understand signing when the onlookers won’t otherwise even know which song is being sung. But I don’t know how it’s ableist to assume that most hearing impaired onlookers will know that it’s traditionally the national anthem that’s sung before the game or that most will know either the English lyrics or how they are normally rendered in ASL. If every signer does it a little differently like every singer does it a little differently (which I guess is possible based on @Beckdawrek 's post) , then maybe you could inform me rather than accuse me of ableism because I didn’t know something I have no way of knowing. After all, I said
I’m wondering though, what exactly is the purpose of a signer for the national anthem.
not that there’s definitely no reason to do it and therefore it shouldn’t be done.
I’m confused at your confusion to why it’s done. Why wouldn’t it be done? If most hearing people know the national anthem is sung before the game and most know the English lyrics, then why even sing it at all in the first place? I am not really sure why you think it should be excluded from deaf and hard of hearing people.
I didn’t say I don’t think it should be done. I was wondering why it’s done. Is it the case that everyone signs it a little differently (which hadn’t occured to me until it was mentioned in this thrread) , like people who sing it in English each sing it a little differently? Or does every one who signs it sign it the same way, as if they were translating the lyrics? Because if it’s the second, it doesn’t seem like a performance while the first does.
( I don’t understand why it’s done at all, but that’s a different issue)