# nfl anthem solutions **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 8, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339 "2017-10-08T23:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/1 "2017-10-08T23:59:13Z")
here’s a thought … the nfl should make a rule saying because of all the distractions to the game of football they’ll leave it up to every home team on whether to even play the anthem saying its fine if they do or its fine if they don’t Or just have a once and for all league vote of owners and players saying play it or don’t and get on with football ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/2 "2017-10-09T00:00:16Z")
Or leave it as it is. It’s hardly a crises. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/3 "2017-10-09T04:16:20Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the nfl should make a rule Before or after their next collective bargaining agreement? > [@](#): > > because of all the distractions to the game of football Huh - I’ve watched a lot of football this season, I haven’t seen any game that’s been distracted by it. > [@](#): > > they’ll leave it up to every home team on whether to even play the anthem saying its fine if they do or its fine if they don’t Gosh, I wonder how that vote would go… Especially since a rule by the league (i.e. the owners) would relegate that decision to management, most likely. > [@](#): > > and get on with football The games remain 60 minutes long just like they’ve always been - watch it, or don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/4 "2017-10-09T13:15:49Z")
If you stop playing the anthem altogether, those who are pissed about players sitting/kneeling are going to really flip out. Is your goal to make this 10 times worse?! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/5 "2017-10-09T13:39:37Z")
My solution: Play it BEFORE the players make their entrance. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/6 "2017-10-09T13:41:39Z")
If the OP is going to propose a solution, it would help him immensely to first state the _problem_. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/7 "2017-10-09T13:47:21Z")
Not until someone can reconcile why kneeling is respectful when in church, but disrespectful on a football field. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/8 "2017-10-09T14:23:31Z")
Here is a better solution: stop letting police officers freely murder black people. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/9 "2017-10-09T14:37:42Z")
The Detroit Tigers had a somewhat similar thing when Lou Whitaker didn’t stand for the anthem because of religious objection (I think a JW). As I recall, the team didn’t take the field till after the anthem when he played. Seems simple enough to me, either : 1. address the issue of police violence toward minorities in a meaningful way 2. play the anthem before the players take the field 3. stop playing it altogether ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/10 "2017-10-09T16:08:55Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > My solution: Play it BEFORE the players make their entrance. Until a few years ago, they did exactly that. It’s only since 2009 that the NFL changed the order of the pregame events to have the players on the field for the anthem, and it was, at least in part, the result of the Department of Defense paying NFL teams for “patriotic displays.” > **[The national anthem in sports (spoiler: it wasn’t always this way) | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/us/nfl-national-anthem-trump-kaepernick-history-trnd/index.html)** > > The NFL and other major sports leagues didn’t always incorporate the anthem the way we see today. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/11 "2017-10-09T19:11:33Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > If you stop playing the anthem altogether, those who are pissed about players sitting/kneeling are going to really flip out. Is your goal to make this 10 times worse?! It’s been awhile since I watched a baseball game on TV. Do they broadcast the national anthem there? FOX and ESPN have both started to not show the anthem at all, to avoid triggering snowflakes. I realized I didn’t care when the talking heads would continue discussing the upcoming game while the anthem was being performed, and half the stadium was sitting on their ass, talking to their neighbors, or getting beer and food. I’ll still stand and put my hand over my heart, but I’m not going to force others to do the same. “As I write this twenty years later, I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/12 "2017-10-09T20:00:47Z")
If you just treat the symptom, the disease won’t be cured. If you reset the game schedule so that players can’t make a protest during the national anthem, then those players will just seek another way to make their protest. Maybe the powers that be should instead work on addressing the issue that’s being protested. This protest isn’t directed against soldiers or the flag or the national anthem. It’s directed against racism and police brutality. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/13 "2017-10-09T21:33:12Z")
I’m confused by Jerry Jones (I guess not for the first time). He knelt with his players after Trump spouted off, but now he’s talking tough? WTH ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/14 "2017-10-09T21:43:54Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m confused by Jerry Jones (I guess not for the first time). He knelt with his players after Trump spouted off, but now he’s talking tough? WTH That’s because originally it was just a bullshit PR stunt to change the message to make it about “unity.” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/15 "2017-10-09T21:58:06Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > That’s because originally it was just a bullshit PR stunt to change the message to make it about “unity.” Right, I can see that…but even if they were (perhaps purposely) muddling the message about police shootings, there’s no way to take that except for a middle finger to Trump. Right? And Trump was the one who made it about the flag and pledge by not addressing the police issue. So it still looks like a big flip-flop to me. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/16 "2017-10-10T02:09:07Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m confused by Jerry Jones (I guess not for the first time). He knelt with his players after Trump spouted off, but now he’s talking tough? WTH He was a PR genius - he came out and knelt with his players before the anthem started, and then when it started up, he and all the players stood up and locked arms. So he’s never “knelt during the anthem”, per se. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/17 "2017-10-10T02:27:52Z")
Ahhh. Clever! ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/18 "2017-10-10T02:43:21Z")
You could make an argument that the NFL had to do something coming into the 2017 season. A person could have made that argument that something needs to be done to prevent players, owners, and fans from taking sides – I get that part of it. The NFL could have worked with the players association and implemented a rule or at least reached a gentleman’s understanding. The problem is, NFL owners blackballed Colin Kaepernick, who actually posted good numbers. So in doing that, the owners and the league allowed a controversy to fester. They hoped that by blackballing Kap, that it would shut players up. What the owners didn’t anticipate – especially the 7 FUCKING OWNERS WHO SUPPORTED TRUMP’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN OF DIVISION – is that none other than the IDIOT in CHIEF they supported would take this relatively small and controllable controversy and use it to drive a wedge between people. And now the problem for these owners is that this topic is so emotional, precisely because of the direct involvement of a presidential administration that is directly involved in rolling back the rights of minorities and protected classes that many of the athletes in the league – oh by the way, the league is like 70 percent black, just thought I’d remind you fucking billionaire tards – feel compelled to speak out even more strongly on a personal level. Yeah, go ahead Jerruh Jones and keep twisting that knife and keep telling your team of mostly black athletes that they’re nothing but rich slaves on your plantation. What if Dez Bryant decides he could just say “Fuck you” and retire? What if others do the same? What if black athletes decide to stage a mass boycott and kill every obese outta shape white man’s fantasy football league? Not to mention teams Super Bowl chances? What then? Maybe that’s what this could come to: athletes realizing that they’re not just hollow entertainers but real people with a real platform, and that they have the opportunity to use it to demonstrate resistance. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/19 "2017-10-10T02:53:43Z")
Good points. I say, let the red state owners clamp down, while the blue state owners support players’ rights to protest, and then let’s see where the free agents go. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339/20 "2017-10-10T12:54:04Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The problem is, NFL owners blackballed Colin Kaepernick, _who actually posted good numbers_. No, he did not. If you think so, head over to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=837988) to make your case. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-anthem-solutions/798339.md?page=2)