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After over a year of protest and subsequent discussion and controversy, it appears as though the NFL owners are considering a rule change that would allow punishment for any player who does not stand for the national anthem.
According to a report from CNBC, a league spokesman said that the owners would discuss the potential change during a meeting next week
Starting in 2016 with San Fransisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick who was protesting police mistreatment of African Americans, primarily black professional football players been kneeling or otherwise protesting during the national anthem to protest racial inequality in the United States.
Those protests continued in 2017 due to President Trump’s comments about NFL players who protest being “sons of bitches”
via The Hill:
President Trump sparked a public feud with the league last month when he said at a campaign rally in Alabama that team owners should fire players that kneel in protest during the national anthem, arguing that doing so is disrespectful to the country.
He also called on supporters to walk out of games when players take a knee during the anthem.
The comments drew a rebuke from NFL executives, coaches and players, who knelt or linked arms at games across the country in a show of solidarity.
But Trump has continued to hammer players over the protests, urging the NFL to make it mandatory to stand during the anthem. Over the weekend, Vice President Pence walked out of an Indianapolis Colts game when some players took a knee during the anthem.
DeMaurice Smith, the head of the NFLPA (player’s union), released a statement Monday regarding players protesting during the national anthem, reiterating that “no player is disrespecting our country or our flag.”
