NFL teams took part in mass protests around the country on Sunday afternoon, but not everyone was feeling it.
The remarks made on Friday by president Donald Trump about NFL players protesting the national anthem had the predicted effect. Players throughout the league protested the anthem on Sunday afternoon, ranging from locking arms in unity or taking a knee.
It wasn’t a selective protest; every team in football had some form of pushing back at Trump for his comments about how players deserve to be fired (which he later walked back to simply suspending) for “disrespecting the flag”. One team that a lot of eyes narrowed on was the New England Patriots. The team has been closely associated with Trump, from Tom Brady’s MAGA hat in his locker to friendships Trump has with Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.
But even the Patriots protested the anthem in unison on Sunday, much to the chagrin of some fans sitting behind the team’s bench.
Boos and chants of "Stand up!" As the anthem begins with a few Patriots taking a knee in front of bench.
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) September 24, 2017
Everyone knew the protests would be a hot-button thing. For as many people who agree with the protests, there are just as many who are steadfast in their belief that it’s disrespectful to a number of things, not the least of which the military and the heritage the flag represents.
The point of the protests on Sunday had less to do with anything other than pushing back against Trump for what he said about NFL players on Friday. This was the league banding together to make a statement that they won’t be bullied by an outside force. Even players who stood for the anthem — including lone Steelers player Alejandro Villanueva (an ex-Army Ranger) — did so in their own way to make a statement.
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Not all fans weren’t going to agree with the protests, and they have as much of a right to voice that as the players do to take a knee.