Article Links:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2734848-monday-morning-digest-making-the-nfl-great-again
Instructions:
Please read the 1st segment of the article posted above. Please answer at least one of the questions below.
Answers should be around 1 paragraph in length.
Discussion Questions:
Do you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
Do you think the protesting will hurt the NFL's reputation?
Should sports have any business in politics at all?
Can you think of another way athletes can protest without starting so much controversy?
What the NFL fails to see is the fact that these protests are hurting their reputation. At a 39.7% approval rating, it is save to say that 6 of every 10 Americans do not like him. But that is not what the national anthem is about. The anthem stands for the pride and honor of just being allowed to live in a country like this. Fans of the NFL know this, and when they see whole teams disregarding the anthem they are infuriated. Im not saying that these players should not have a voice; they can make their opinions clear through social media, interviews, and even press conferences (LeBron James). But disregarding respect for our flag as well as our troops that fight every day for us is downright wrong. Sports and politics can be brought together, but the fact of the matter is that as soon as they step into the stadium, all nonsense must be dropped, and focus on the game should be their only concern.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the protesting will hurt the NFL's reputation?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that protesting will hurt the NFL's reputation. In fact, I think that these protests will do more damage to the reputation of the president rather than the NFL. The NFL will continue to broadcast games, regardless of what is happening before the games begin. I think that the NFL will continue to remain silent or else they risk annoying a large part of their audience. I think that the president making repeated remarks about this issue is more important to think about. The president is in charge of incredibly important matters, and for him to spend so much time and energy talking about players' rights to exercise the first amendment wasteful. I think in the long run, the fact that at least six players drafted this year have been convicted of domestic abuse will be remembered much more so than a completely legitimate protest.
I think protesting will not hurt the NFL's reputation, but I think it alters what people except of a football game. People go to a football game to support their team and some people watch sports to release stress and step out of the real world for a period of time. With all of this politics occurring at NFL games, it seems like the main point of the game isn't the football but the opinions and the protests beforehand. I think it is in some way disrespectful to kneel because it is not abiding by the customs of the national anthem to the country that has served them at least relatively well over the past many years. On the other hand, I think that the players 100% have the right to protest and the right of speech, so they are doing the right thing because they are slightly disrespecting the country, and they are coming together to protest what they do not like and what is unfair in the country today.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that protesting for what you believe in, whether you are a household name or completely unheard of is wrong. In this case with the NFL, I think it is completely within the rights of those involved to speak out for what they believe in. When Kaepernick did this for this first time, his explanation was that he did not agree with how his country was conducted. He did not want to stand up for an anthem of a country that was still racist, cruel, and not open. In the NFL, there are people from many diverse backgrounds, so to be able to stand up for the minority that is barely heard is important.
ReplyDeleteI believe that players kneeling during the national anthem is disrespectful in some ways, but it is their right and their freedom of speech. Some people believe that standing during the national anthem is showing your respect for the soldiers who have fought and died in order for us to even have freedom of speech or security of overseas threats. I believe that is true, but also these players have a platform to make a statement if they want to have a voice in social change, which I believe can be done by kneeling during the anthem. I think they should be able to sit if they disagree with what our nation currently stands for, even though the anthem represents our nations history as a whole.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the protesting will hurt the NFL's reputation?
ReplyDeleteI think that the players kneeling and sitting during the national anthem will hurt the NFL's reputation because they will start losing viewers. Some people who watch the NFL don't agree with players sitting or kneeling during the anthem. Which angers these people and making them not as interested in the game. They find it disrespectful to the military and the flag. Most of these players are doing this in response to the inequality and racism in the country. The NFL is losing viewers due to the president and issues in this country.
Do you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI take a very neutral stance when it comes to this question. This is because I believe that every person has the right to peacefully protest. Although, I also believe that people have to be mature enough to understand that their is a time and a place to show their stance as well. That it is very immature, selfish, and disrespectful for professional athletes to draw attention to themselves in order to spread their message when their job at that time is to work and entertain the public, instead of expressing their thoughts without thinking about how it hurts the reputations of the people and organizations around them.
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ReplyDeleteAnother way for NFL players to make a difference in this issue is by making organizations and helping out in the community. These players are public figures all around the nation. These figures drawing attention to these issues will make more of the general population respect and address these problems. These players also have a lot of money which could be used to help support this issue. In addition, these players going out in the community would show the public that these athletes really care about what is going on, not just a publicity stunt.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI personally don't this was disrespectful act. You are not obligated to admire and support your country if you don't like what they're representing. If I lived in a country where an issue directly impacted me, I wouldn't support any type of patriotic acts. If a person has strong stance on a certain issue, they should by all means have the right to express their emotions towards it through whatever outlet that may be, (Social media, a gesture, fundraiser, etc) as long it is not harming anyone. This act of taking a knee has done no damage, physically or mentally, to anybody. On the other hand, if there was type of malicious intent with any of their acts, that's a completely different story.
Do you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI do not believe this is a disrespectful act. First of all, people have a right to free speech, and the way Trump has attacked the NFL basically coming out as pro-concussion, is a good reason for people to protest for what they believe. It is an obvious fact that blacks and whites have not been treated the same in this country, so we should not be judging how they are handling this because we have not been in the same situation or been in their shoes for these issues. If I were on their side or even where I stand now, people have the right to stand up and not support non patriotic acts. Maybe there could be a better way to handle this without "disrepecting" the flag as some people think, but from what I see, people have a right to be standing up for what has been going on.
I believe that the kneeling during the national anthem is a total disrespect to the country and to the flag. Yes, these players have the right to do it but they are doing it in the total wrong way. They are forgetting what they are trying to protest. They are trying to protest police brutality and that blacks are oppressed. These players are not realizing that they are in fact disrespecting and paying no attention to the flag and the country that gives them all the freedoms in order to do the things that they are doing. The reason they are able to speak their opinion and make millions of dollars off of just a game is because they are privileged by all of the freedoms they get from this country, but just disrespect it in return. Not only are these players protesting the total wrong thing but they are only making things worse in my opinion. Sports used to be a place where anyone could come together and just bond and be themselves and prove that everyone is equal. But now these athletes are dragging politics into a place where it should not be and it is only dragging people a part. It is not helping and is only hurting the people and the league itself.
ReplyDeleteI believe that protests should definitely have a place in the sports world. I think this because many kids and adults think of athletes as their role models and they will be extremely influenced by their actions. Not only that, but just the thousands or even millions of people that watch can be influenced because of the magnitude and the courage it takes for the players to stand up. For example, when Kaepernick first came out and took a knee, it was everywhere. Sports and political news and all over social media. This shows how much sports can influence the world and this is why I believe that they should have a place. However, they have to be handled correctly. For example, this past weekend I agreed with players taking knees and locking arms or even not coming on the field at all. However, I did not like or agree with what Lesean McCoy did during the National Anthem for the Bills vs. Broncos. Lesean was stretching and exercising while the national anthem was playing. I think this was the wrong choice of action because it basically said that he didn’t care about the country and what’s going on. He could have taken a knee to side with Kaepernick or locked arms with teammates to show unity or not come out but he basically blew it off and I don’t think it sent the right message. Also, through everything and seeing both sides of the argument, I understand why so many people are upset. Current military members and veterans fought and died for this country so I can see why many people are extremely upset.
ReplyDeleteYes, I absolutely think it is disrespectful of the NFL players to kneel during the national anthem because there are people that risk their lives every single day for the flag and for the players not to show respect to that is awful. It also should not be done because lots of kids look up to these guys as role models and kids be influenced to do this. I think that it will hurt the reputation of the NFL because if they don’t handle it people may think it is because they don’t care or that they agree if the protest. I do think that sports should have business in politics because they have such a big influence on people's lives and they are always seen by the public.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that kneeling for the national anthem is very disrespectful, however I do believe that politics can have a spot in sports. The message that these NFL players are sending is something that I can get behind, but I do not believe that disrespecting the flag is the right way to go about that. As privileged athletes, there are multiple other ways to achieve the same goal. You can go into local communities and start organizations, donate money, learn about the police force, or, if you feel you need to voice your opinion, use social media for its purpose. The American Flag stands for the people who have died protecting the rights of this country, and even though there is a problem inside the country, disrespecting the troops, the country that houses you, pays you, and feeds you is not the correct way to approach solving any problems, and it ends up causing more problems in the end, distracting people from the intended problem.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI think that kneeling during the national anthem is incredibly disrespectful, while it might be within their rights to kneel and have a freedom of expression i believe that it is being done in the completely wrong way. I feel like at this point the protesters don't even know what they are protesting anymore. It just seems to me that this protest is losing meaning. NFL Players get payed millions and play a GAME and are disrespecting the flag that soldiers fight and die to protect and preserve the meaning of it. I remember watching football when i was younger and I looked up to football players as heroes. Now if i was looking up to these guys and seeing them protesting about oppression and other topics, I would think that america is less than what is actually is. We still have our rights and freedoms but I dont believe this is the way to go about expressing them.
Sports and politics both have their own meaning in society, and mixing them can result in a potent concoction that affects both sides. So in the case of keeping the entertainment of sports and integrity or politics intact, I don't believe sports should involve politics and vise versa. I'm not saying that players are not entitled to their own opinions, in fact it would be unconstitutional to deny someone their freedom to decide. If athletes wanted to do something they could influence fans and regular people to start an organization or program that influenced other people on different political problems, that would be fine. But players should not directly involve themselves in politics until they retire or are released from sports, and that doesn't just apply to the NFL but all elite sport groups.
ReplyDeleteDo you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem because they are protesting what the flag represents in a peaceful, effective manner. I think in this case, the flag and the anthem represent the ideals of freedom and equality that America is supposed to stand for. And when people feel these ideals are not present for their people at a certain time, they have the right to protest it. I think that these players have succeeded in bringing issues of things like police brutality and oppression of people of color to the public eye, and have sparked a discussion about these issues and how to combat them.
Do you believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteThis past NFL season there has been much controversy on many of the games national anthems. I do not believe it is disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem because of freedom of speech, and the reason they are protesting is because recently in America there has been many different issues regarding racism and police brutality. Recently these issues have escalated and there should be no room for racism and police brutality. Another reason why I don't think it is disrespectful for NFL players kneeling during the national anthem because they are not trying to be disrespectful they are just trying to protest and show what they believe in. Although I believe that this isn't disrespectful, I understand why others are offended by this because the national anthem is highly regarded and respected and doing this is seen as disrespectful.
Do you think the protesting will hurt the NFL's reputation?
ReplyDeleteI think protesting might hurt the NFL’s viewership, but it’s reputation as a league wasn’t high already. They have a fairly bad commissioner in Roger Goodell and have been trying to dissociate CTE research to NFL head trauma injuries. So, in my opinion, they never had a strong reputation in the first place. What they will hurt in is their wallets. Sunday was definitely not a good day for NFL ratings, but it was surprisingly the best game week of the year with a bunch of games coming down to the wire. The article said that football’s greatest protest might be good football games, and that’s probably true. Certain hardcore lifetime fans may not be able to be pressed away from their TVs if their are close games like in GW3, and thus will be unintentionally supporting the NFL’s kneeling issue. So, yes, protesting will hurt their revenue, but the NFL’s reputation is already not very high.
Can you think of another way athletes can protest without starting so much controversy?
ReplyDeleteI believe that there are other more appropriate ways to protest and stand up for the things that some NFL players believe in. Players have numerous opportunities to address the press through press conferences. I feel that would not be as controversial as what they are doing now and I think it would be as effective, however, in a different way. Another good idea would be to have a representative from each team talk about the issues that are the reason for why they are kneeling. They could have league wide meetings discussing why players are protesting for different reasons and in doing so it would be far less controversial. These two ideas would be good substitutes for what they are doing now and I feel they would be equally as effective, if not more so.