Sports

NFL franchise owners provoked quite a reaction on Sunday and Monday when they walked onto the field and locked arms with players – and, in some cases, kneeled (just not during the National Anthem) – in a demonstration of defiance to President Donald Trump, who late Friday night picked a fight with both the NBA and NFL by first disinviting the Golden State Warriors to the White House, then labeled any NFL player who kneels during the anthem a “son of a bitch” for “disrespecting our heritage.”

In the latest sign that viewers are turning out in droves over the politicization of professional sports, the Associated Press reports that through the first three weeks of the NFL season, viewership for national telecasts of NFL games is down 11% compared with 2016, Nielsen company said on Tuesday. While games had averaged 17.63 million viewers during the first three weeks of last season, that number has dipped to just 15.65 million so far this year. 

In the latest sign that the backlash to NFL players kneeling in protest during the National Anthem has been more damaging than players, owners and the league officials had expected, Baltimore Ravens National Anthem singer, and combat veteran, Joey Odoms has announced that he’s resigning just days after about a dozen Ravens players took a knee before a game against the Jaguars in London, the Baltimore Sun reports.

“We greatly appreciate the work Joey did for us and we thank him,” said Ravens senior vice president of public and community relations Kevin Byrne.

Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

Desperate to fill hours and hours of air time on 24-hour news channels, media corporations have made sure the discussion of the correct posture of National Football League players has been front and center. 

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

“America refuses to address the pervasive evil of white cops killing black men, and I will not stand during a national anthem that honors the flag of such a country!”

That is the message Colin Kaepernick sent by “taking a knee” during the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” before San Francisco ’49s games in 2016. No NFL owner picked up his contract in 2017. But a few players began to copy Colin and to “take a knee.”