Penalties for Kneeling Being Considered

Sorry, but this IS precisely what the NFL's position was "at the outset", and one it unwaveringly maintained for quite some time thereafter. During that time period, the story only grew, it did not dissipate. The actual facts betray the claim you've been trying to make. Ignoring the story was not gonna make it go away.

Teams DID try that, remember? Did it help? Nope. Only made fans angrier. Only made the story bigger.

I know it's chic on this board to always bash the NFL's billionaire owners--after all, they're such an easy target--but I don't see any gaping flaws in how the League handled this story at the outset and for most of its lifespan. It was stuck in a true no win situation on this one, there is no course of action, or inaction, it could take that would be met with favorable public response.

 

As if Tebow, or white players, are the only ones kneeling after a touchdown.

Not sure why Tebow is such a lighting rod for this, especially as he's been out of the league for a while already.

 

Stoney's right.

The NFL did everything it could to try and get this issue to blow over.

You can bitch all you want about Trump pouring fuel on the fire, or the racism of the owners, but it's clear that the NFL's fans had an issue with the kneeling, which is the only reason why the owners give a shit about it.

 

Some. Not all. An isolated base. Most fans just want to watch football.

 

Enough to cause concern.

You want to lose even 10 or 20 percent of your business/fan base?

 

Blah, blah, blah. Here's how to lose your base: Turn the NFL into a fight over politics.

 

But, the NFL didn't do that.

They didn't create the problem.

 

And who's to blame for that happening?

I can certainly see how you can pin it on Donald Trump or Colin Kaepernick, but it ain't the League--that's what it's been dearly trying to avoid.

 

Wouldn't it be a violation of the players' First Amendment rights for people to stop buying tickets or watching on TV? Based on what I've read here about the First Amendment, I think it might be.

It would be a really interesting case, at least.

 

Would be a great reverse class action case.

 

Take a stronger position of neutrality from the start: "We're not wading into this bullshit. We're here for football."