Al Michaels thinks Raiders lost because of national anthem protest (Video)
By Josh Hill
Al Michaels thinks the Raiders getting humiliated by the Redskins was because of the team’s national anthem protest.
The comments made by Donald Trump on Friday at a rally in Alabama sparked mass protests throughout the NFL on Sunday. Trump called any player who kneels for the anthem a ‘son of a b—h’ that deserves to be either fired or suspended.
Players throughout the NFL unified to stage a mass protest that involved players linking arms, taking a knee, to praying. Teams like the Steelers, Titans, and Seahawks all refused to take the field during the anthem. During the Sunday Night Football broadcast, Michelle Tafoya reported that the Oakland Raiders wanted to do the same but couldn’t because of time constraints set by NBC.
The Raiders protested by kneeling and interlocking their arms but that was about all they did on Sunday night. Oakland got sandblasted by the Redskins and SNF announcer Al Michaels took almost four full quarters to draw a correlation.
Michaels used garbage time to rail against the Raiders for thinking too hard about how they wanted to protest the national anthem and not enough time prepping for the Redskins.
It’s a bold take, and one someone was going to throw out there. Those expecting it from a Twitter egg instead got it from Michaels on a national television broadcast.
He may have a point, though. There was a lot of pressure on teams throughout the league to have something ready in response to Trump’s attack on the NFL. Michaels insinuating the main reason the Raiders lost was that they were preoccupied with the anthem protest is facetious, but it’s coming from a place that might not be far off from the truth.
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No, the Raiders didn’t drop a dud on national television because they couldn’t protest the anthem the way they initially wanted to. But it’s not impossible to think that the pressure of the protest caused a glare in the focus of the Raiders. Things far less grandiose than an anthem protest have distracted teams (playing in different time zones, a late flight, partying in Miami before a playoff game, etc). The anthem protest can factor into why the Raiders lost but you might want to first consider football reasons like a shady secondary and less-than-stellar defense as reasons first.