The NFL Is Disrespectful To Our Flag

The NFL was Disrespectful to our Flag
Some of the NFL teams failed to stand for the National Anthem on Sunday, September 24, 2017. These teams did this to protest Donald trump’s statement that NFL players that kneel for the National Anthem should be fired. According to Scpr “At least 130 NFL players showed their defiance to President Donald Trump by kneeling or sitting in protest during the national anthem at Sunday's football games. One team even stayed in the locker room” (Campbell). This event had many effects on society such as bringing politics into sports, having a bad influence on children and young adults, and showing how disrespectful these teams were. Being Disrespectful to the one’s who have fought for our country is not the right way to protest Donald Trump. Colin Kaepernick started the kneeling during the National Anthem in 2016 to protest racial issues. Kaepernick is responsible for starting the “Black Lives Matter” protest.

First of all this event was a bad influence on children who watch the NFL.

There are many young children and teens who support, watch, and some love the NFL. I always see pictures of young adults/children wearing their favorite teams jerseys and merchandise. For the young people who support and love to watch the NFL this is a very negative message. Kids might think that since their idol kneels for the National Anthem that it’s cool. Is this what you wants your children to learn from watching football? Also, is this teaching them that being disrespectful to their country is alright? Do you want your children to be affected and drawn into this negative

message.
Secondly, this incident brought politics into sports. Before, the NFL was a place to go and essentially “Escape from the real world.” Basically football was not involved with any politics and people tried to keep politics out of it. Up until this point this “plan” worked fine and people were pretty happy. Now this has caused a huge ruckus people are burning tickets, merchandise, and other things with the team's colors, logos, etc. on them. According to some fans who agree that “football games are an inappropriate place to engage in political protest, and that not standing for the national anthem shows disrespect for the country and those who proudly support it, some with their lives” (Procon). The Steelers were one of the teams that participated in this protest. All of the players on the Steelers team except Alejandro Villanueva, a U.S. Army Veteran stayed in the locker room during the National Anthem. I watched a video the day after this event happened of a woman saying she was extremely disappointed in the Steelers being very descriptive and using some harsh language to get her point across. In the end of the video she took Steelers tickets, a Steelers flag, and a Steelers jersey and dropped them in a fire pit.
Lastly, this protest caused the NFL to look disrespectful and unprofessional. People have now seen how unprofessionally they handle how they feel about something. There are players in the NFL that are retired veterans. So, not only were they being disrespectful to the American flag and our country they are being disrespectful to their fellow players. One thing I do not understand is how NFL teams can basically do whatever they want and it seems like a big deal in the news but there are no consequences for their actions.
The NFL kneeling for the National Anthem was very disrespectful to our flag and our country. This shows how unprofessional acting some of the NFL teams actually are. Almost everyone in the USA respects this country and for idol type figures to disrespect our country is a bad influence on people. Finally, something should be done about this event other than just letting it slide with no consequences to the players.