# 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:** 6
**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, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/101 "2017-09-25T14:33:21Z")
Hey, guys? Stop silently protesting the treatment black people receive at the hands of American cops. You’re upsetting a Trump supporter by not assuming his position of choice when they play a song to your piece of cloth. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/102 "2017-09-25T14:36:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > 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. Free speech is disgraceful? Look at the Super Patriot who swears on the Constitution while disregarding the actual words. Looked to me that many of the owners not only didn’t consider the protest disgraceful but joined in. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/103 "2017-09-25T14:48:09Z")
I support the right of individual and groups of NFL players to use their stage in order to peacefully protest and object to a president injecting himself into the issue and advocating both for preventing such protest and for punishing those who do protest in such a way. The irony of defending what the flag stands for, which includes the right to protest, by trying to silence and prevent protest, must be highlighted. The racist pandering implicit in the context also cannot be ignored. I care more about defending what the flag represents than defending the symbol for its own sake. And I understand that kneeling during the flag represents very offensive “speech” to a significant fraction of the American public. I do hope though that those who object to trying to prevent this peaceful protest that offends a significant fraction of citizens on free speech grounds would be as vigorous in the defense of peaceful protest that _they_ find offensive and disagree with as well. I’m not sure all would. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/104 "2017-09-25T14:50:03Z")
At this point, just stop playing the national anthem before the games. I don’t go to other events like a concert and expect to hear it. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/105 "2017-09-25T14:52:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And right now, CNN is the “All NFL protests, all the time” channel even though (among other things), 3 1/2 million American citizens are without utilities in Puerto Rico, some nut walked into a church in the Nashville area and shot 7 people, and, well, North Korea. :o > > HELLO THERE! :smack: This ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/106 "2017-09-25T14:55:27Z")
Per ESPN, the [history of playing the anthem](https://briancain.com/blog/the-history-of-the-national-anthem-at-sporting-games.html) before sporting events. Key point: > [@](#): > > In any case, the tradition of performing the National Anthem before every baseball game began during World War II. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/107 "2017-09-25T14:58:19Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Per ESPN, the [history of playing the anthem](https://briancain.com/blog/the-history-of-the-national-anthem-at-sporting-games.html) before sporting events. > > Key point: And since the tradition has become so divisive, just stop doing it. No longer will the rude and non-politically correct athletes be able to display such disgusting behavior. Problem solved. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/108 "2017-09-25T14:59:25Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > At this point, just stop playing the national anthem before the games. I don’t go to other events like a concert and expect to hear it. Problem solved. Or at the very least, stop having live singers. And if you do have live singers, you should be allowed to designate someone to walk out and smack them on the back of the head if they pull that Whitney Houston-esque noodling shit on it. It’s the National Anthem, not “I Will Always Love You”. Have a little dignity. Seriously, that shit pisses me off more than a couple of players kneeling during it. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/109 "2017-09-25T15:06:28Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Or at the very least, stop having live singers. And if you do have live singers, you should be allowed to designate someone to walk out and smack them on the back of the head if they pull that Whitney Houston-esque noodling shit on it. It’s the National Anthem, not “I Will Always Love You”. Have a little dignity. Seriously, that shit pisses me off more than a couple of players kneeling during it. Amen! The anthem should not take 5 five minutes! “Banner” has two syllables, not five. ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/110 "2017-09-25T15:11:50Z")
> [@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? Dismissing them as privileged persons misses the point. They know who they are; they know tons of people like themselves who aren’t making millions a year and do not have an audience. And having millions really does not protect them from being mistaken in an awful moment for a common thug, which is the lesson I took from Kaepernick’s kneeling. I thought that to be one of the most elegant protests I’ve ever seen. Now it’s gone national. I dislike when football gets political, but on the other hand the opposing side didn’t have to go big with this. With the calls to preserve Confederate symbolism and the daily Obama-bashing and whatnot, they do not have the moral high ground on which to lecture other people on showing respect. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/111 "2017-09-25T15:12:36Z")
> [@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? Yeah, how dare those libtard snowflakes care about anything other than their own narrow interests? Didn’t someone tell them that selfishness is the prime American Virtue?!? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/112 "2017-09-25T15:21:01Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > > [@QuickSilver](#): > > > > Wait until he hears about NASCAR’s socialist agenda; Every race, including: organizers, owners, sponsors, teams and drivers run almost exclusively left. > > [NASCAR owners side with Trump, take firm stance against protests](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2017/09/24/nascar-owners-trump-protests-response-petty-ganassi-childress/698122001/) **Whoosh!** Hint 1: Quicksilver wasn’t talking about their politics Hint 2: Widdershins ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/113 "2017-09-25T15:28:43Z")
Still working on understanding the cognitive dissonance it takes to support Confederate statues while decrying Colin Kapernick… ---
**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, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/114 "2017-09-25T15:32:00Z")
> [@Tee](#): > > Dismissing them as privileged persons misses the point. They know who they are; they know tons of people like themselves who aren’t making millions a year and do not have an audience. And having millions really does not protect them from being mistaken in an awful moment for a common thug, which is the lesson I took from Kaepernick’s kneeling. I thought that to be one of the most elegant protests I’ve ever seen. > > Now it’s gone national. I dislike when football gets political, but on the other hand the opposing side didn’t have to go big with this. With the calls to preserve Confederate symbolism and the daily Obama-bashing and whatnot, they do not have the moral high ground on which to lecture other people on showing respect. Republicans and the moral high ground aren’t on the same planet. ---
**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, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/115 "2017-09-25T15:32:23Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Or at the very least, stop having live singers. And if you do have live singers, you should be allowed to designate someone to walk out and smack them on the back of the head if they pull that Whitney Houston-esque noodling shit on it. It’s the National Anthem, not “I Will Always Love You”. Have a little dignity. Seriously, that shit pisses me off more than a couple of players kneeling during it. Agree in some respects but I’ve always thought that Jose Feliciano had a nice interpretation of it (years ago for you whippersnappers) and if the singer has the vocal chords to belt out a long note, fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/116 "2017-09-25T15:35:26Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Still working on understanding the cognitive dissonance it takes to support Confederate statues while decrying Colin Kapernick… Those confederates were white and Colin is not. What’s so hard to understand? ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/117 "2017-09-25T15:37:28Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > In what way is disrespecting the national anthem “making America great”? In what way is genuflecting during the national anthem disrespectful? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/118 "2017-09-25T15:40:38Z")
Its weird. Some of my liberal friends won’t watch football until Kaepernick gets a starting QB position and some of my conservative friends can’t seem to grokk that the reason we went from less than a dozen player5s sitting out the anthem to hundreds of players sitting out the anthem is because of Trump and not because of a new found disrespect for veterans, the military and people who died in combat. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/119 "2017-09-25T15:44:27Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > At this point, just stop playing the national anthem before the games. I don’t go to other events like a concert and expect to hear it. Problem solved. Agreed. And peer pressure patriotism is hollow patriotism. ---
**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, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216/120 "2017-09-25T15:45:29Z")
As if any American soldier who’s been deployed in the last 50 years was defending the US or its decorations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-magically-turns-nfl-games-into-anti-trump-rallies/797216.md?page=7)