# Trump Magically Turns NFL Games Into Anti-Trump Rallies **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216 "2017-09-24T20:34:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [September 25, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/81 "2017-09-25T12:14:52Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Colin K. should have been fired the first time he did it. Trump’s statement was exactly correct. The NFL is taking it in the shorts because the league has no balls. Not a big fan of the First Amendment, are you? Or do you think that freedom means the freedom to act like YOU want someone to do? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/82 "2017-09-25T12:24:21Z")
Wow. If that Trump supporter is this upset over a guy choosing to kneel instead of stand when a song is played to a piece of cloth, my opinion would have him petitioning his government to declare war. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/83 "2017-09-25T12:41:46Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Colin K. should have been fired the first time he did it. Trump’s statement was exactly correct. The NFL is taking it in the shorts because the league has no balls. Interesting that for a guy who dislikes organized religion as much as you do, that you demand a piece of cloth, or maybe a song, be treated like a holy object. And, as you well know, “Colin K.” has pretty clearly been blacklisted from employment in the NFL for his failure to genuflect to this supposed holy object to the degree you think appropriate. Is that not good enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/84 "2017-09-25T12:50:49Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Colin K. should have been fired the first time he did it. Trump’s statement was exactly correct. Correct or not, it’s having a [Streisand effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect) on the protest scope. Many players who didn’t believe in the initial cause for protest are now joining it to send the message that Trump can’t influence the protest, or to support a norm in free speech (using the term in a generic, non-constitutional sense). ---
**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:** [September 25, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/85 "2017-09-25T12:56:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > or to support a norm in free speech (using the term in a generic, non-constitutional sense). Care to elaborate? I’m unsure what you mean by non-constitutional sense. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/86 "2017-09-25T13:01:30Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > How can Trump call on his base to boycott the NFL? Oh, LOTS of Trumpists are saying they’ll boycott. You show me 10,000 people who say they’ll stop watching over this, and I’ll show you 9,999 liars. > [@Clothahump](#): > > The NFL is taking it in the shorts because the league has no balls. This year the NFL will make over $13 billion in revenue, by far the most of any professional sports organization in the world. They’ll do it again next year, and the year after, and the year after, and the year after, and in fact the numbers will go up. They will continue being ludicrously successful even if every single player on every team peacefully protests the anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/87 "2017-09-25T13:05:18Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Care to elaborate? I’m unsure what you mean by non-constitutional sense. Since the government isn’t restricting speech in this instance (although the President is certainly criticizing some form of speech) there’s no Constitutional conflict. Freedom of speech as written in the first amendment doesn’t come into play. But in common usage, free speech is often used when there are repercussions for speaking one’s mind from non-governmental agencies, such as NFL teams. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/88 "2017-09-25T13:10:16Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > And, as you well know, “Colin K.” has pretty clearly been blacklisted from employment in the NFL Do please remember that he was about to be cut anyway, with a chronic case of the sucks. But the kneeldown has made him a martyr, even if it’s for a cause I fully agree with. Woulda been nice if he’d bothered to effin’ _vote_, at least. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/89 "2017-09-25T13:10:41Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Since the government isn’t restricting speech in this instance (although the President is certainly criticizing some form of speech) there’s no Constitutional conflict. Freedom of speech as written in the first amendment doesn’t come into play. > > But in common usage, free speech is often used when there are repercussions for speaking one’s mind from non-governmental agencies, such as NFL teams. Thanks, that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/90 "2017-09-25T13:14:59Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Interesting that for a guy who dislikes organized religion as much as you do Well, duh. How can you not dislike an institution that claims to revere God but flagrantly insults Him with the disrespectful gesture of kneeling? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/91 "2017-09-25T13:25:57Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Do please remember that he was about to be cut anyway, with a chronic case of the sucks. But the kneeldown has made him a martyr, even if it’s for a cause I fully agree with. > > Woulda been nice if he’d bothered to effin’ _vote_, at least. On the first point, he isn’t a bad quarterback. But his contract with the 49ers valued him as a top tier quarterback, so he wasn’t worth the value that the contract required them to pay. But he is better than probably every backup quarterback in the league, and a handful of starting quarterbacks too, even with his drop off in performance. There is no question whatsoever that he isn’t playing today because of his protest. And yeah, his inability to vote makes him look like a total idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/92 "2017-09-25T13:53:20Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > On the first point, he isn’t a bad quarterback. But his contract with the 49ers valued him as a top tier quarterback, so he wasn’t worth the value that the contract required them to pay. But he is better than probably every backup quarterback in the league, and a handful of starting quarterbacks too, even with his drop off in performance. > > There is no question whatsoever that he isn’t playing today because of his protest. > > And yeah, his inability to vote makes him look like a total idiot. At this point, I finally agree. Through most of the off- and pre-season, I was still pretty sure his contract demands were probably a large issue. Nobody wants to take a 90% pay cut if they don’t have to. Considering the number of quarterbacks that have gone down, and the shit quality of most backups, having a guy that was a completion away from being a Super Bowl champion sitting at home makes no sense. He’s no Rodgers, but I’d wager a dozen teams would be instantly upgraded if he came in as a starter, and double that as a backup. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/93 "2017-09-25T14:17:09Z")
My take on it is that I don’t see kneeling as being inherently disrespectful, if it is that really puts an interesting new perspective on that whole “going to church” thing. And Colin K said he was doing it because he wasn’t proud of his country right now. I don’t see not being proud of something as the equivalent of disrespect- in fact most actions and people in this world fall under the category of " things that I am neither proud of or disrespectful towards". In another thread ( I think) I made the joking suggestion that maybe the players should protest by waving Nazi flags on the field as that seems to be the Trump approved method of protest for fine people. But what is obvious is that in TrumpWorld, white people are assumed to be good people acting with good intention until they prove that they are bad, while people of color are assumed to be bad people with bad intentions until they prove that they are good. He’s been pulling the crap for years, first with the Central Park 5 then with Obama - Just think of Trumps multi-year quest to make Obama “prove” he wasn’t born in Africa and try telling me with a straight face that he’s not racist. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/94 "2017-09-25T14:23:36Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Damn but you’re fragile. Fragile? It is to laugh. I live in the real world, RC, not the liberal utopian dreamworld that thinks behavior like that is acceptable or exemplary. The players’ actions are disgraceful and the owner’s should tell them that as long as they represent the team, they don’t bring disgrace on the team. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/95 "2017-09-25T14:25:22Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Or maybe the league thinks peaceful protesting is just fine and in keeping with American traditions (because it is). It’s nuts that peacefully protesting is pissing so many people off. How can they protest if not peacefully in this way? What’s to protest? These are grown men getting paid big bucks to play a children’s game and they want to thumb their noses at the country that makes it possible for that to happen? Can you say hypocrisy? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/96 "2017-09-25T14:25:57Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > The players’ actions are disgraceful and the owner’s should tell them that as long as they represent the team, they don’t bring disgrace on the team. Says you. I’m a veteran and I disagree. Such protests are in keeping with the highest traditions of American patriotism. People called abolitionists un-American, but they were wrong. Abolitionism was very patriotic, as was the Civil Rights movement, and many more instances that were opposed and criticized by most Americans at the time. Most people in Alabama at the time thought the bus boycotts were inappropriate. They were wrong, and Trump is wrong here, and so are you. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/97 "2017-09-25T14:27:10Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > What’s to protest? These are grown men getting paid big bucks to play a children’s game and they want to thumb their noses at the country that makes it possible for that to happen? > > Can you say hypocrisy? They’re protesting things that are happening in the country, just as many athletes have before them. That’s an honorable and patriotic thing to do if one thinks there is injustice and unfair treatment in America. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/98 "2017-09-25T14:28:04Z")
> [@SaneBill](#): > > He’s just trying to Make America Great. What’s wrong with that, why you hate America so much ? In what way is disrespecting the national anthem “making America great”? I’d really like to hear your thought process on this. Why shouldn’t they take it a step further and burn an American flag while the anthem is playing? That might get them even more face time on TV. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/99 "2017-09-25T14:29:46Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > On the first point, he isn’t a bad quarterback. But his contract with the 49ers valued him as a top tier quarterback, so he wasn’t worth the value that the contract required them to pay. But he is better than probably every backup quarterback in the league, and a handful of starting quarterbacks too, even with his drop off in performance. > > There is no question whatsoever that he isn’t playing today because of his protest. > > And yeah, his inability to vote makes him look like a total idiot. The 49ers tried to trade Kaepernick before his protest and got no real interest from anyone. No doubt the protests have an impact, but he was not that well regarded around the league before they happened. Especially considering how much weight he lost from his peak seasons. Despite that, he’s had interest from teams. Seattle brought him out for a visit and ultimately passed on him. They didn’t give a reason, but Pete Carrol talked very highly of Kap so the speculation is that his contract demands were higher than they wanted to pay. The Ravens were going to sign him until Kap’s girlfriend tweeted out a picture equating Ray Lewis and the Raven’s owner to a slave and master: > [@](#): > > “I have been fighting for this kid behind the table like nobody has,” Lewis said on “Inside the NFL.” “I’ve never been against Colin Kaepernick. But I am against the way he’s done it. > > “Then, his girl [Colin Kaepernick’s girlfriend] goes out and put out this racist gesture and doesn’t know we are in the back office about to try to get this guy signed. Steve Bisciotti has said it himself, ‘How can you crucify Ray Lewis when Ray Lewis is the one calling for Colin Kaepernick?’ > > “When they [the Ravens] called me, it was to say, ‘Yes,’ or, ‘No.’ … We were going to close the deal to sign him. … Steve Bisciotti said, ‘I want to hear Colin Kaeperkick speak to let me know that he wants to play football.’ … And it never happens because that picture comes up the next day.” [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baltimore-sports-blog/bs-sp-ravens-ray-lewis-colin-kaepernick-20170905-story.html](http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baltimore-sports-blog/bs-sp-ravens-ray-lewis-colin-kaepernick-20170905-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/100 "2017-09-25T14:32:59Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > What’s to protest? These are grown men getting paid big bucks to play a children’s game and they want to thumb their noses at the country that makes it possible for that to happen? > > Can you say hypocrisy? Yes, it’s pronounced “Cloth-a-hump.” I’m surprised you and your ilk here lack the courage to actually say “uppity”, since it’s clearly rattling around in the void between your ears. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216.md?page=6)